Hell and Back
by Jax Solo
Summary: Iron Man 2 REMIX! Andy Stark is back, and this time her life's starting to fall apart: Tony's a jerk, the government wants their suits, and the reactors are failing. Of course, it's just the time when the past decides to rear up from the shadows...
1. Chapter 1

"Mina, I need a location on Tony right now..."

This I said as I worked my way through the crowds under the Tent of Tomorrow at the opening of the Stark Expo. Hello, it's Andy Stark again. In case you're wondering, yes, I really am the little sister of Tony Stark and "twin" of the one and only Iron Man. As of this moment, it's six months after the accidental debacle I unleashed when I announced that Tony and I were the two armored butt-kickers of the "robotic prototype", which was really Obadiah Stane and was now very dead.

In the meantime, here's the general breakdown of stuff that's happened these past few months.

Me: As Trinity, I've worked maybe thirty-or-so covert operations for the military, backed up by Mental Imaging Network Artificial – Mina, my personal AI. Most of my runs were with a small team from whatever branch of military called me in; so far, I've worked with army, marines, and air force. Not to mention those Ten Rings mongrels? Oh yeah. I've taken a few more personal missions out on them myself. Great fun. As myself, I've kept up with hacking and upgrading my suit. My main targets, since the Department of Defense canned Stark Industries' military contract, has been the office of the Secretary of Defense and Hammer Industries, who'd taken over our former claim. There's another problem, but I'll get to that later, since it likely applies to Tony, as well.

Tony: As Iron Man, he's done maybe fifteen public warfare missions against whoever the military wants him to go for. He's also done a lot of posing and interview-giving for the media, which I don't find very useful at all. As himself, Tony's become an overall jerk, again: partying, drinking, and acting as if everything we'd gone through in the cave had never happened. Thankfully, there weren't any women – yet. Not to mention he's gotten obsessed with the idea of legacy, so, almost automatically and despite Dad's letter – yeah. I was back to hating Howard Stark. I can't be blamed though; you try to get on with your life and have your older brother, at least once a day, ask, mostly to himself, "I wonder what Dad would say."

Not to mention it was Tony's idea to run the Expo this year, for the _entire_ year, as another dimension of his new ego-tripping and legacy-desperate state. Of course, I do have a partial idea exactly why Tony _might_ be doing all this, but I did still have that childish hope of invincibility when it came to him. But whatever it was, it applied to me, maybe him, and if we didn't do anything it'd likely mean our lives.

Some weeks ago – maybe more like a couple months – I starting noticing that I was getting exhausted more and more easily, and that my reactor was starting to flicker on occasion. Now, this isn't the old reactor; this was a new one that used strips of palladium that could be inserted into the reactor, a special design by Tony to simplify the general idea of the reactor. But it turned out that palladium was too unstable for that very design – I figured – and the strips were starting to die out. My first strip of palladium, since swapping the reactors, died about two weeks ago; I had a feeling that this next one was soon to go, itself.

Mina had figured that the palladium was starting to poison my body, making matters worse. That was a fact that I wasn't sharing with Tony, and I sometimes thought he wasn't sharing it with me, either. I don't remember a time when Tony had kept a secret from me, and that fact felt like a new gulf had suddenly ripped between us. I hated it, but I would wait for Tony to make the move this time.

Keira Knightley's voice sighed from the earpiece of my iPhone, and I had to plug one ear as AC/DC's _Shoot to Thrill_ came on. I swear my jaw fell slack when I saw a line of maybe fourteen dancing girls, scantily costumed in glowing knockoffs of Tony's mark three, high-kick onto the stage. I would've turned to be sick if I hadn't been pushed to the front row, near where the music was loudest and the girlish screams were sharpest. I was just glad I could still hear Mina through the entire racket.

"You're not going to like it," she noted, voice singsongy and upbeat even though I knew that, like me, she was twirked off. Mina was about as annoyed as I was over Tony's sudden transformation, and had, on many occasions, actually gotten past Jarvis, Tony's AI, to shut down Tony's mark four. Yes, I say mark four. Tony has no capability of settling on a final product.

"Let me guess," I sighed as I looked towards the roof. Open window. And I'd already noticed the waiting gurney underneath, as well as lights of a plane overhead as I was walking in. You notice things when you start reading _Sherlock Holmes_. "He's a few thousand feet above my head and is about to dramatically decrease that distance."

"Yep."

"Great."

And you guessed it. About when fireworks started going off overhead, I saw a bristling white contrail starting to sail downwards, through the colorful barrage of shells, and it grew into the full-size, red and gold mark four missile that contained my brother, Anthony Edward Stark, as he landed in a crouch, then stood to an adoring crowd, pyrotechnic sparks and the chorus line behind him. I was standing in the middle of it all, watching him be unsuited, and I _glared_. Each time he turned to me, I glared him dead in the eye, and despite the smiles he threw the crowd, I saw the flicker of shame in his eyes. He knew I was pissed at him.

I left before he started on his speech – likely to be all about legacy, again – and retreated to a fountain-dotted reflecting pool that stretched from the Tent of Tomorrow to the Unisphere, a metal globe that gently rotated on a tilt that mirrored that of the Earth. Since most of everyone who was at the Expo was crammed in or around the Tent, it was wonderfully, amazingly quiet, and I strolled casually down one of the sidewalks, glad to be away from the noise and the crowds. I paused once on my way towards the Unisphere, and that was to pull out my iPhone again. I'd programmed an app that allowed me to check my palladium toxicity, and I gently pressed the camera part of the phone against my palm while the app ran.

"Toxicity result, twelve percent," Mina sighed from the phone. "Well, it's not bad."

"Not yet, it isn't," I answered before stowing my phone. That was a bad idea, because a tinny version of _Back in Black_ scratched from the inadequate speaker; Tony's personal ringtone. I looked down at the phone in my pocket as the opening riff started up again, and I decided to go ahead and answer. A muted version of the insanity behind me started echoing in my ear as I bitterly snapped, "What."

"Hey," Tony replied. If he said anything else, I couldn't hear it, and I rolled my eyes after a few beats of silence.

"You know, if you're calling just for the hell of it, your timing couldn't be worse," I insisted, but I paused as I heard a hurried shuffling of hands. Either Tony was in the middle of signing autographs...or he was up to something else. I was distracted from asking him what he was up to as Tony started up again.

"Yeah, well, I just figure that they probably would've liked an appearance from Trinity," he began, "you being all cloak-and-dagger on us more often than not. See, this's why I get help planning this stuff..."

"I am _not_ walking up there," I insisted sharply. "I refuse to sink to your level."

"Yeah...figured as much," Tony sighed, and I was about to go off on my usual tirade – what kind of monster are you turning into, all that – when I heard him hiss in pain faintly. It's not like Tony to be injured in a civilian capacity, so my concern took over from my annoyance as I stopped walking, water hissing off to my left.

"Tony?" I asked, brows furrowed. Maybe...maybe he was testing his own toxicity. I hoped not. "You all right? Anything wrong? Tourist or fangirl get too close?"

"Fine," Tony replied, and I heard the noise mute as he started walking. "None of the above. Nearly ended up walking into a door, if you can believe it."

"Liar," I snorted. I could easily picture Tony's brows shooting up on his forehead; he always did that when he tried to lie. I'd been seeing it fairly often. "Anyway, I'm headed home, if you plan on catching up. I know I've got better things to do, and I'm pretty sure you do, too."

"Andy..." he started saying, and my careful grip on my phone tightened. I silently begged him to tell me, even as I started walking again, slowly, because crowds were starting to leave the pavilion behind me. But Tony didn't say anything more. Instead, I heard a faint sigh, then a click. My heart wrenched and my jaw slackened slightly.

He'd hung up on me.

I lowered my phone, staring at it in disbelief before my anger spiked up again. I chucked it into the nearest fountain, swearing under my breath before digging out my Bluetooth "implant", slipping it over my ear. He was getting more and more useless by the day, and I was starting to get tired of playing the adult in this family. I started marching out of the Expo, headed for the nearest parking lot and my motorcycle.

"I think he thinks he's protecting you from something," Mina noted dryly as I got close to my black bike with gold details. It was custom-built, compact like the speedster bikes that pretty much forced you to ride with your knees in your chest, but had enough power and weight that, mercifully, I could be seated upright. I sighed as I leaned against the seat, adjusting the bud in my ear.

"Y'know, if he'd just come out and say he's gettin' sick, too, I wouldn't be in this stupid situation," I grumbled in reply before reaching into one of the concealed storage compartments to retrieve my helmet, which was fairly average compared to everything else that I owned. I could imagine Mina shrugging helplessly as I pulled on the plain black plastic, lowering the visor and about to climb onto my seat when I spotted a square of white paper taped to the leather.

"Mina."

"Yeah?"

"I thought I had an anti-tampering system installed on this thing."

"I didn't get any signals anyone was even in proximity."

I frowned, picking up the envelope and glancing it over. My name was on it, certainly, but I didn't get any clues as to its origin until I decided to open it. The contents boasted a Department of Defense letterhead, and the second sheet was a summons from Congress. The DoD letter was, interestingly enough, a letter from the Stark Industries military liaison, Lieutenant Colonel James Rhodes, but better known to both me and Tony as Rhodey. Of course, with Tony's recent slump, I hadn't seen much of Rhodey, and I knew it was either because Tony was pushing him away, or Rhodey's superiors were trying to use him to make one of us give up a suit. Knowing Tony and knowing Rhodey's superiors, I figured both. I separated the two papers, folding the subpoena and stuffing it into a pocket before reading Rhodey's letter.

_Andy_, it began, perfectly typed:

_Wish I could've kept this from happening, but it is. Just be yourself, and the committee won't dream of punishing you like they're planning on punishing Tony. I'll be in town; looks like I might get my own hearing, which isn't making my day look any better. I'll meet up with you guys afterward, or you, if Tony's still in his mood._

_All the best, and see you soon,_

_Rhodey_

The last bit was handwritten, and I couldn't help but grin. Well, at least I'd get backup for my hearing. I carefully folded the letter to go back into its envelope and tucked it into the storage slot my helmet had been in before straddling my bike and cranking the keys in the ignition. When the engine roared, I eased the bike out of its parking spot, and started for the ramp to the southbound highway.

"Mina, how far's DC?"

"Couple hundred miles, give or take," Mina sighed. I smiled; programming an AI to have sarcasm was no mean feat, but Mina was an expert at it. "Get on the highway and crank maybe seventy or so, should get there before daylight."

"You read my mind," I chuckled before I revved the bike up the on-ramp and started tearing south. Maybe Flushing, New York wasn't the best start point for such a journey, but at least it would get me out of town.

There wasn't even any traffic on the way out of New York and into Pennsylvania, and I was nodding along to the Rolling Stones in perfect contentment and solitude. Or would've-been perfect, if it wasn't for a set of headlights zooming up behind me right as _Paint It, Black_ started strumming in my ears. I didn't look closely at my follower, but I sped up, breaking eighty miles an hour and engine roaring. Another glance out my mirror, and I saw the other driver was still right behind me. _Chasing_ me.

Now who did that sound like?

I slowed enough – seventy-five or so – that I was comfortable with turning a bit more fully, and I spotted the glinting Audi logo on the car behind me, along with a familiar silhouette. I rolled my eyes and grumbled incoherently as I changed lanes, allowing Tony to pull even with me before Mina automatically dialed his cell phone. I watched him pull it out and flip it open out of the corner of my eye, even though he glanced at me.

"Tony, I don't appreciate being tailed by semi-psychotic jerks right now," I spat by way of greeting, and I saw him look at me, a faint grin on his face. He thought I was being funny.

"Semi-psychotic? That's new; it's good," he commented in reply. I was still tempted to strangle him.

"Well, you're sure acting it," I retorted blandly. "Now, get off my tail, will ya? I need to go piss off my very favorite senator when the sun rises."

"Oh, you, too?"

I had to swallow back a groan. My day was just getting better and better.

"I refuse to sit next to you."

"Hey, I'm sitting where they make me sit."

"And if you so much as _try_ to be a jerk, I'll personally kick your ass when we get home."

This wasn't an empty threat; it was a semi-true fact. I'd conscripted Mina into helping me get better with hand-to-hand, and, with Tony getting a boxing ring for his practices with Happy Hogan, his combination driver and bodyguard, it was easy enough to spar in there, with Mina controlling my suit and very thickly padded to avoid giving me broken bones or worse. I was an excellent mixed martial artist, and Mina informed me that, combined, her and my hand-eye coordination in the suit were superhuman. I just had to keep that from being ruined with a bad day.

Tony was dead silent at my threat, because I knew he knew I meant it. I hung up on the call with a brief rap against my helmet, and I revved my bike back up to speed, tearing away from Tony. This time, he didn't try to follow me. I wouldn't have minded it so much if he wasn't currently acting like he wasn't my brother. The problem with that was that we were what was left of our family.

And not having Tony acting like my big brother made me feel like I was all alone in the world. It was the worst feeling ever.


	2. Chapter 2

Of course, we were there by morning, and a brief, very silent check over the other's subpoena revealed that, guess what, we were going to supposedly be testifying together. _Gag_. I would've preferred being stuck in Afghanistan again. Fairly soon after arriving, though, security walked us through the usual metal detectors and X-ray machines before leading us to the committee chamber. Tony, as usual, took the front and center seat. I noticed rather disdainfully I had a nameplate settled on Tony's right; apparently, the government believed we were still loving siblings even though we've never run a joint operation. My response was scooping up my nameplate and settling on the far right end of the table. Good thing I chose the right side over the left; a quick glance down that way revealed a certain tawny-haired, bespectacled man in a three-piece suit, and he gave me a huge smile and a jaunty wave when he saw me glancing down in his direction.

This, very sadly, was Justin Hammer, CEO of Hammer Industries, and possibly the biggest, slimiest jerk the world has ever known. I tried running a jerk-comparison between Hammer and pre-cave Tony the day I heard we were losing our contract to that sleezeball, and Tony-of-nine-months-ago came out looking like a saint in comparison. The worst part of it all was that Hammer seemed _more_ than interested in me. I knew just what he wanted: drinks, laughs, and then a one-night stand just so he could claim that I was just like any other girl in the world who made eye contact with him. I rolled my eyes and decided to ignore him.

Through most of the hearing, I kept on my aviator-styled sunglasses, arms crossed and letting Tony take all the heat. I immediately saw what Rhodey had meant in his letter: _I'd_ been earning my keep among the military circles, so Congress didn't give a damn about me. I was a good girl that worked with their people. Tony, on the other hand, preferred the vigilante standard, so Congress wanted him to wise up and be more like me. Not to mention the committee chairman, Senator Stern, seemed to be _very_ unfriendly towards Tony.

The hearing went something roughly along these lines: Stern wanted Tony to give up the suit. Tony was refusing. Hammer was brought in to note that plenty of foreign countries were racing to copy Tony's designs. That bit caught my interest, because, well, I'd been keeping an eye on plenty of baddies, along with Hammer himself. I started digging into my pocket and swore when I didn't find my iPhone. Oh, right; I'd chucked it into a fountain back in New York. _Great_.

But I saw Tony had sneakily pulled out my prototype iPhone competitor, working title being the Stark Mobile, and was tapping away at it. I swore at myself silently, deciding to _never_ let him borrow any of my prototypes again. I got up and managed to wrangle it out of his grasp, catching Stern's attention.

"Miss Stark," he intoned in mild surprise, as if he hadn't expected me to be here, "you haven't said much since this hearing started..."

"Oh, no, I haven't," I answered blithely. "You guys seem to be doing a very nice job of jargoning my own daily lecture to him. I don't need to say a thing."

The press loved it, and it got a few laughs from the gallery. I shrugged and meandered back to my isolated little corner, busying myself with the Mobile, but Hammer suddenly decided to offer a crack.

"Now, we do know what Anthony's been up to, sure!" he called out from the other side of the chamber. I could imagine Tony gagging silently; no one, as far as I knew, had _ever_ called him Anthony to his face, except maybe Mom, but that was an entirely different thing. "But what about little miss Andrea? What's _she_ been doing as...what was that clever codename you offered?"

"Trinity, you dick," I grunted in reply, mood sour at my full name, "and if you want to know, go digging around in military classified records."

"The military has an _understanding_ with you, Miss Stark?" Stern asked, probably just to get the fact on the record. I glanced up from accessing certain files on the Mobile and nodded.

"Oh, yeah. I get to kick terrorist ass with their help, and you government types leave me the hell alone."

The press cracked up even more at that, and Tony gave me a crazy look mixed with a grin. I shrugged and got back to my work, or tried to. That was because Stern had the startling audacity to summon in Rhodey, and both me and Tony got up in shock as he walked in, uniform blues crisp and expression annoyed. I knew as well as Tony that Rhodey _hated_ public appearances and politicians roughly equally, and both were happening. Both of us got to him, and I put a hand on his shoulder to squeeze a little.

"Didn't expect this," Tony quipped quietly, but I still heard the tone of surprise and something like betrayal in his voice.

"Look," Rhodey grumbled, dark eyes narrowed slightly, either because of the cameras or Tony. "It's me. I'm here. Now deal with it."

"Just keep it cool, please," I asked, and Rhodey glanced at me to offer a small smile. The thing I liked about the good colonel was that he was all business when he had to be, but he wasn't stuffy and pompous like his brassy superiors in this very room. I returned his grin before the three of us returned to the center table, Rhodey on Tony's left and setting a large binder on the table before him.

Rhodey did his whole swearing to-tell-the-truth-the-whole-truth-and-nothing-but-the-truth-so-help-me-God, before Stern struck out hard at Tony. The binder, it turned out, was a massive report, by Rhodey, about Iron Man and Trinity. Stern had Rhodey read a bit from the report about how "Iron Man presents a potential threat to the security of both the nation and her interests as he does not operate within any definable branch of government". That sparked a flicker of anger across Tony's face, and I frowned myself. Maybe Tony was being a jerk, but the lone-ranger thing suited him just fine. Okay. Time to make a point.

I got back onto the Mobile and loaded up the playlist of videos Mina had fetched for me over multiple hacking runs – some private-driven, some actually asked for by DoD – and, while Rhodey tried to reason with the senator before I decided to be bold and stupid at the same time.

"'Scuse, Senator Stern, Rhodey, I've got something to share," I interrupted before raising the Mobile to one TV screen in the room, then the other. "Just need to borrow these..."

Mina ended up wirelessly transmitting to the computer link-ups, and the screens flashed red for a moment. I tapped up the playlist, and classified military videos from North Korea, Iran, NATO countries, and, my personal favorite, Hammer Industries fired up for a few seconds. Each one featured a robotic prototype very much like the Iron Man suit failing some basic test or other, and chaos being wreaked because the designs were just not up to scratch. Hammer flipped out slightly when he saw the videos Mina had downloaded from his mainframe, and he scrambled to unplug the TVs as he appeared in the video itself.

"My, my, Justin, you've gotten sloppy, stealing our intellectual property," I clucked slightly as Hammer stormed back for his seat and Stern whirled on me.

"You'd mock the American people by supporting your brother's shortchanging?"

"Look, senator, let's get a few facts straight here," I snapped, jabbing my finger at him. "Yeah, I get that you don't like having two tech geniuses with very fun toys not under your control, but I'm telling you to suck it up. I said it six months ago, and I'm saying it again: I'm Trinity, Tony's Iron Man. That isn't going to change anytime soon.

"You saw those videos. I'm not gonna be generous here; all those countries are maybe, five, ten years behind me and Tony. And that's _perfectly fine_. I'm earning my keep, and Tony's earning his. And we're not giving up the suits."

I leaned back triumphantly, and my victory would have been so very, _very_ sweet if Tony hadn't suddenly decided to turn my words to his favor.

"I'm your nuclear deterrent. The point of the suit is to _not_ use it, and it's _working_. I've successfully privatized world peace! Now, you want my property, and you can't have it! My bond –" Here he stood up, starting to play it up for the cameras. I sank down into my seat and started feeling my triumphant feeling vanishing into my daily dose of annoyance – "is with the American people!"

Stern had the good idea to adjourn right then and there, and the room exploded with questions from reporters as Tony walked up the center aisle. I snuck up one of the sides and slipped out without notice, anger and annoyance clawing around in my chest.

"Miserable, two-timing, selfish..._jerk_!" I swore once I was a fair distance away from the committee chamber, and I slapped, open-palmed at a pillar. It didn't help with my anger issues at the moment. Tony had just showed himself in front of the entire _world_ as a jerk, and it wasn't just that for me. He had effectively made the suits _his_ sole idea. Anyone who's heard about what actually happened in the cave knows full well that _I_ was the one who found time to concoct the original suit, wore it, and busted the both of us loose from Ten Rings. I was so frustrated that I jabbed a closed fist into the pillar, which was a very bad idea. I felt something crack in my hand, and I sucked in a breath. Oh, _ow_...

I heard the press starting to come my way, and I knew Tony would be right ahead of them, so I ignored my pain and started walking, both hands rammed into the pockets of my jacket. I had no desire to glance back at Tony, or wait with him. He'd robbed me of what was originally mine and willingly shared, and I was in no mood to talk to him.

But he was in a mood to talk to _me_.

"Andy!" he called out as I started descending a set of steps down to the street. I heard him skitter down after me, and his hand soon grabbed my shoulder, making me stop. I was already frowning as he came around to face me, and something in his face looked pained. That was odd; I thought he'd been enjoying himself, kissing up to the cameras. It was a few long seconds before he finally spoke.

"What...what happened in there?"

"Oh, you don't know?" I bit back acidly, all my annoyance boiling up in an instant. "I figured you were just being a _jerk_, _again_, and it's really starting to piss me off."

"Yeah, well you exactly haven't been cuddly _either_," Tony retorted sharply, but that only spurred on my anger.

"Well, ex-_cuse_ me!" I scoffed, scowling a little. "I'm sorry, am I not fulfilling your expectations, just like I never fulfilled Dad's, if he even _had_ any for me?"

"Can't you go a week without bringing that up?"

"Oh, compared to _you_, going on about _legacy_?"

I couldn't stop. It came out before I even thought about what I was doing.

"You know what? You _are_ just like Dad! I don't know how I was so _stupid_ to never see it before!"

I tore my shoulder from his grasp and stormed off down the street, chest heaving. That had been the first time in nine months I'd yelled at Tony, and the first time he'd yelled back. My chest ached, but out of pain and my still-seething anger instead of the reactor, and I felt tears flooding my eyes. I still kept walking, eventually turning west and headed towards Union Station, along the backside of the Capitol building.

Just a little, I wanted to go back to him, ask who the hell he was, and what he'd done with my brother. I wanted to ask him _how do we fix this_, and do it. But Tony _wasn't_ helping me figure it out, still doing the lone-soldier thing, and it hurt _me_, too. So I did the only thing I could: I yelled at him in an attempt to make him see what he was doing. And Tony was all but blind.

I heard someone start jogging up behind me, and I half-hoped it was Tony, come to apologize and hug me and take me home. The hand that settled on my shoulder was gentler than I'd expected, and I was further surprised to turn and find, not Tony, but Rhodey there, brows furrowed in concern.

"Hey," he said by way of greeting. "You okay?"

"Des it _look_ like I'm okay?" I snapped a little, my bitterness still up even though it was Rhodey instead of Tony I was getting testy with. "He's going back to what he was and then some! I'm almost wondering when the first of the women turn up!"

I was going to continue my rant, but I managed to rein in my temper. For one, this was Rhodey I was suddenly yelling at, not Tony. Tony deserved facing my anger and hurt, but Rhodey sure as hell didn't. I sighed in defeat, bowing my head before slipping off my shades so I could rub the bridge of my nose.

"Sorry," I grumbled eventually once I'd calmed down. "Been having a bad few months."

"Apparently..." Rhodey agreed, rubbing my shoulder a little before lowering his hand. Even in the blistering heat, the blues still looked good on him, and I eventually glanced up at him with a small smile on my face. I missed him coming to visit, mostly for the hilarious jabbing back and forth he and Tony went at. Now Tony didn't even let Rhodey call him just to ask if he was okay.

"It's him I'm bugged at," I sighed as I slid my shades back on. "Not to mention there's reactor issues and a bunch of other crap I get easily pissed at."

"Look, lemme get you a coffee," Rhodey offered, "and you can tell me all about it, a'right?"

"Coffee sounds _great_," I sighed. "And a pastry stuffed with so much chocolate you could turn diabetic just looking at it."

That got Rhodey to chuckle, and I grinned at him. See, he appreciated my jokes, which weren't lewd or bawdy or full of innuendo like Tony's. Not to mention I _really_ liked the idea of talking to Rhodey, just to get all the stuff I'd just mentioned off my chest.

"Sure, and a pastry to go with it. C'mon."

He walked with me towards Freedom Plaza, a flat stretch of marble near the Archives, towards a Starbucks sequestered in a gorgeous, red stone Victorian building. We were just about halfway across the plaza when my chest ached very noticeably, and I realized it wasn't an emotional reaction again.

"Oh, great...not now," I murmured, stepping away from Rhodey's side for a second, and making sure no one was looking my way. When I was absolutely sure no one was ogling me – maybe other than Rhodey – I plunged my hand down my shirt and pulled out my reactor, wincing as I ended up feeling my heart shudder painfully. I yanked out an old Altoids tin and flicked it open, revealing clean, shiny strips of palladium, along with the first strip to die out. I managed to get the dead strip extricated, rusty and hissing faintly , and slotted in a fresh one before closing the tin and reaching down my shirt again to plug the reactor back in. My heart jumped once the reactor was set, and I sighed in relief.

I slowly turned back to Rhodey, who was looking at me with wide, worried eyes. I tucked away the tin and shrugged as I walked back up towards him.

"...you okay?" he asked again. I sighed, running a hand through my hair. Well, I was already planning on telling him, so might as well make a mention before he worried.

"Reactor issue. C'mon, let's get coffee, then I'll tell you. And don't tell Tony. I – I don't want him knowing I'm going down."

Rhodey sympathetically took my arm, and I gave him a smile before we headed into the Starbucks. Soon, we were seated at a nice cool indoor table, armed with coffees and a double chocolate chip muffin, and I took a few gulps of coffee and a couple bites out of the muffin before I got around to bringing it up again.

"Palladium's not working out anymore," I began, being as blunt as possible. "I've been lookin' for somethin' – anythin' – that could fix it, but no luck so far. And all I have are these to keep me going."

I reached into my pocket to offer Rhodey the tin, and he looked shocked as he opened the lid, finding the palladium strips in there, two oxidized and four still clean. I knew he was smart; I could see him figuring out what it all boiled down to. One way or another, Tony and I were going to die, and sooner than most. When he offered the tin back, I took it, but pulled out the Mobile to lay it on my palm for a reading.

Twenty-six percent was the new result. It'd more than doubled.

"Was only twelve last night," I informed Rhodey quietly as I showed him the result, and the look in Rhodey's eyes made me wonder why the _hell_ Tony hadn't told him and had effectively left him in the dark. Once I'd stowed the Mobile, he reached across the table, grabbing my hands and just...holding them. I don't know why, but his touch felt amazingly good.

"I don't wanna die," I sighed eventually, his thumbs running along my knuckles. "But I don't want to see Tony go before me, so...please. Don't tell him."

"Isn't he gonna figure it out himself?"

"I have no idea. Maybe, maybe not. But...he's gone so far, I don't want him to get burned."

"...maybe this's why," Rhodey mused aloud, voicing that tiny prod of an idea I'd had at the Expo when I'd wondered why myself. But Rhodey squeezed my hands tightly and looked me square in the eye. "But if you need help, you got it. Don't matter what."

I managed a small smile even though I had a foreign, fluttering feeling in the region of my stomach. I squeezed back tightly as I nodded my thanks.

"Rhodey, I owe you."

"That's actually a _first_ from you, if I remember..."

"What can I say, it's a good time for firsts. Sane ones, at least, before I drop dead at a hundred percent toxic."

Rhodey grinned faintly and shook his head at me, muttering, "You're a cruel lady, y'know..."

"Comes from relative neglect for most of my life," I replied with a smile. "But...thanks. Really. I needed this. It's like therapy but for better. And less expensive."

"Should do it more often," Rhodey agreed, and I couldn't help but flush a little. Not to mention he was still holding my hands.

"Hey, next you're in the area, I won't mind if you visit. Tony might, but I'll try not to make him throw you out."

"That's okay. I'll just sleep on his couch if he tries!"

I laughed at that. Tony would deserve it thoroughly to have his best friend visit and stubbornly take over his couch. Sadly, my day was interrupted when Mina decided to contact.

"Tony's heading for the airport, and I'm bringing the bike around," she informed me briskly once I'd answered the Bluetooth. Ah well. I glanced at Rhodey and shrugged helplessly.

"Looks like I've got a reluctant plane ride to catch."

I slipped my other hand loose, and I couldn't help but Rhodey looked sad to have me go.

"Andy," he called once the bike pulled up, getting stares because it was riderless. I paused from leaving the shop yet, and Rhodey gave me a tiny smile. "Take care of yourself, okay?"

"I'll try," I answered cheerily. "It's Tony, remember? My days are going to be ruined thanks to him!"

I gave him a wave as I walked out and swung onto my bike with my helmet in place, roaring off towards Reagan National, where Tony's jet waited.

"...were you out on a date with Tony's best friend?"

"Mina, shut up."


	3. Chapter 3

**MINA**

I was already uploaded back into the house when Andy and Tony returned from Washington, and I had dodged around Jarvis's usual questioning so I could settle in my portion of the local mainframe. In a way, I had "arranged" my "room" similar to Andy's: messy, codes everywhere but within easy reach. I settled into my quarters and sighed in relief. First the Expo, then the hearing...what would be next?

In case you've not already noticed, I am Mental Imaging Network Artificial, or Mina, as both myself and Andy prefer. Yes, I am an artificial intelligence, and quite more sophisticated than Jarvis – Just A Really Very Intelligent Servant, designed by Tony as something of a valet. I'm more like Andy's partner in crime and part-time best friend, and it's a duo of functions I perform admirably, if I may say so myself.

At any rate, as it was with Tony and Andy recently, they arrived separately and remained that way. Andy, of course, arrived first on her redesigned motorcycle, traded a few words with Jarvis – and arranging a practice session against Tony or Hogan, which I did _not_ blame her for – before coming upstairs into her room. Per usual, I had the lights dimmed, computers on and primed to their designated functions, and I "looked" over it all from a camera perched in a corner of Andy's room, over her bed and afforded an excellent view of both her workdesk and computer hub.

"Mina, anything from the Joint Chiefs?" Andy asked as she shed her jacket and collapsed into her chair at the heart of her nexus. I barely had to glance at the communications linkup, knowing it was simple routine that Andy asked such a question.

"No, not since a month ago," I sighed in reply, and Andy scowled in the glare of the five computer screens. "It seems to coincide with Tony's announcement about the Expo, and the first of the government press to get him either blended into the command structure or force him to give up the suit."

"And they're not concerned over us, of course," Andy grumbled, running a hand through her hair. I noticed she had a hand bandaged up now, and I would have made a comment on it had Andy not added, "Keep an eye on Tony for me, will ya? I'm going to poke around DoD, see if there's any new intel we get to exploit."

"Will do," I answered before turning my attention from Andy's room and instead to the garage. Tony had returned approximately a minute before, and I could see him settled at his desk. However, any assurance I could have thought of faltered as he reached under his shirt to extricate his reactor. I would have spoken to either him or Andy, but I was still speechless as Tony underwent the same procedure I had coaxed Andy through when her first strip of palladium ran dry.

So, contrary to what Andy believed, Tony knew he was dying, as well. And neither of them was trying to tell the other...why? To protect the other? It was likely, considering that Andy often took on Tony's role as the elder sibling in relation to him, and Tony exercised it anyway over Andy. I didn't know if I wanted to tell Andy, but, of course, she seemed to notice I was watching something more than a little startling.

"Mina? What is it? Don't tell me he's finally gotten over himself and started making out with Pepper..."

"Not at all," I answered, pushing my main consciousness onto a screen in Andy's room so I could "face" her. "Andy...I think he knows."

I peered through the camera to see Andy staring at my "face", eyes wide and jaw slightly slack. I fed her the visual I had captured, and Andy seemed to collapse in on herself as she watched the garage, now in real time. The silence was very foreboding, especially considering that Tony had been making an ass of himself in recent days, and I watched as Andy's hands clenched into fists as she pushed up from her chair.

"Why...he wouldn't tell me...?"

"Andy, I think he's trying to protect you," I tried soothing, but, as had been slightly more common, Andy was in no mood to be soothed. I knew she had suffered enough when it came to her personal life, and, of course, the fact that Andy was determined to ensure that she didn't lose everything she still had again.

"Yeah, well, he doesn't have to be a complete _idiot_ about it," Andy huffed as she donned her workout clothes. "I'm going to go warm up in the gym, snatch him up once he's sane or not busy."

"Likely that might be tomorrow," I noted carefully, sneaking into Pepper's Blackberry device to overview Tony's plans for the rest of the day. "He's noted to have some private time the rest of the day."

Andy swore under her breath, and, like I had been for some months now, I wished I had a physical body so I could reach to put a hand on Andy's shoulder and squeeze. That way I could assure her that all would be well, eventually, but, as things were, it was left to be dreamed. She took a few moments to take a few deep breaths, then shake her head a little.

"All right. Fine. I'll rack into either Hammer's bases or the Air Force's, get some intel so I can...vent this evening."

"Just don't get yourself hurt, Andy," I warned carefully. "The rate the palladium's poisoning your body is starting to increase, if I'm projecting this properly. If anything, using the suit is going to accelerate your...er...condition."

"Noted," Andy noted brusquely, and that was my signal the conversation was over. _Sigh_. Getting through to Andy in recent days was getting more difficult. I busied myself with watching Tony instead, who settled in to work with a set of holograms – rather than tools, part of a strange initiative of his that had eliminated all of the delightful hardware except for his cars, desk, and two semi-intelligent robots Dummy and You. He was playing with a recent toy of his as Jarvis ran a few more simulations of likely replacements – so that was why Jarvis had been accessing chemistry-related outlets – before Pepper entered her code and stormed towards Tony.

I paid very little attention to their bantering argument over Tony's donation of the modern art collection to the Boy Scouts (a collection Pepper had been curating for years), which Tony himself was paying no attention to. Suddenly, I realized, everything Tony had been doing in recent days made sense: the Expo, the sales, the posturing. He was readying himself to die, and he was adamant on either enjoying what time he had left or leaving behind a legacy in the world. I sighed to myself, wishing I had a head to shake, because, of course, Tony was blinding himself to the fact that he had people who needed him, _now_, and the three people closest to him were starting to see him regress back to his lifestyle before the events in Afghanistan.

_Tony Stark, you fool_, I thought to myself as he found a piece of "art" of himself as Iron Man and, just to annoy Pepper, I'm sure, bounded to place it on a wall. I noticed that he bounded _back_ to discover the same artist had done a work for Trinity (AKA myself and Andy) and decided it was a far more flattering piece and shot back to the kitchenette to replace his minor ego-trip with the Trinity piece. I felt my own ego – if I have one – inflate slightly, but it was more a sign that Tony did still care about Andy. So he was trying to protect her after all, then.

But when I decided to up the audio to myself slightly, the bottom dropped out of my core. Pepper was complaining about his immaturity – as usual, of course – but Tony was insisting he sign over his half of the company to Pepper. Making _her_ co-CEO with Andy. Of course, I didn't blame him, but something about actually making Pepper CEO, rather than keeping her as his assistant, gave me a sense that something bad was about to happen. I didn't know how soon, or exactly what, but I simply _knew_ that when Pepper no longer became Tony's assistant, everything was about to go down the drain.

_God, I don't know if You listen to AIs like me,_ I pleaded silently into cyberspace, _but please, please give Tony the sense to realize what he's doing to us._

I figured it would at least be worth a try.


	4. Chapter 4

It was the next day when I bounced into the ring with Happy, clad in my favorite AC/DC sweatshirt and wired up with my iPod. Happy himself was in a t-shirt and shorts, pads on his head and heavy boxing gloves on his hands. Other than my sweatshirt, I had a sports bra, slender sweatpants, and lightly-padded gloves, mostly to cover for my broken hand. Note to self: no more punching stone columns. Tony was off to the side, also in workout clothes, watching with wide eyes as I managed to beat around Happy handily. He knew full-well, of course, that he was soon going to face that same fate.

Mina had warned me about the newest plan of Tony's, and her own semi-philosophical thoughts on the whole matter. She even admitted to _praying_, which I'd actually been doing a little bit more of myself in recent weeks. The only plan of action I could think of, therefore, was _showing_ Tony that I knew, and hopefully forcing him to come to his senses. It didn't help me any that Pepper soon walked in with a woman behind her. I noticed it in passing, because I was delivering a good clock to the back of the head to Happy, followed by a knee to his gut. Thanks to the pads, of course, the ex-boxer wasn't unconscious, just aching very badly.

"That was _cheating_," he groaned as I helped him stay upright, and I smirked before smacking him on the shoulder.

"No, that was mixed martial arts," I soothed him. "Here, you take a break, Tony, c'mon, your turn."

"But you're gonna kill me!" Tony moaned even as he climbed in. Happy was _more_ than grateful to escape as I cracked my neck slightly. Pepper sighed and called over to us.

"Andy, don't break him, okay? He's gotta finish this."

I spared a glance at Pepper, then at the woman with her. She had wavy, dark red hair and sharp, icy eyes. Something about her, though, screamed _don't trust me_, and I immediately didn't. Tony didn't get the same vibe, and he was punished when I kicked out at him, catching him in the chin. He flew back with a groan, massaging his jaw. I swear I heard Mina laugh, and Pepper groaned.

"Temporary rain check?" Tony moaned once he was seated upright. "Please?"

"Fine," I sighed. "Baby."

He glared, but escaped from the ring to deliver his thumbprint to the paperwork – though, being a ladykiller, he attempted to flirt with the new girl – and, in retaliation to me, I figured, Tony glanced up at me.

"Wanna give her a demo?"

"_No_."

"Please? I need to find a new Pepper, anyway."

I shot a glare at the new girl, and scowled faintly before waving her into the ring. Tony settled in to watch with Pepper, and she slowly stepped into the ring. I paced a little, watching her, and decided to fake her out a little by turning my back. I heard her take a few steps towards me, but I didn't turn.

_C'mon, secret agent_, I silently taunted her. I had a gut feeling she was from a certain agency, and I wanted to throw her into the ground. _Come and get me._

When she tried to high-kick the back of my neck, I ducked low and kicked out. That seemed to surprise her, and I made her pay for her mistake when my foot met her ankle, sending her sprawling to the side. I made a quick glance at Tony to make sure he wasn't listening as I leaned over her, pinning her hips under my knees and her shoulders with my hands.

"If Fury sent you," I hissed quietly, and the cold look in her eyes flickered in quiet shock as I continued, "tell him he's not going to force Tony to fall apart. I'll kill him first."

She didn't reply, but I knew she'd gotten the message before I got off her, sticking out my hand to help her up. She smacked it away, and I just smirked darkly as she decidedly climbed out of the ring and collected her folder. As she strode out, Tony watched her go from his seat near Pepper, then glanced at his ex-assistant. That was going to take getting used to.

"I want one."

"_No_," Pepper insisted, and I nodded agreement.

"Now, I'm collecting your rain check. Get back in here, Tony, because you know you deserve it," I added, and Pepper left to start on her new job. Tony watched her go, too, and after he waved off Happy I jabbed him right in the face. After that, though, it got harder to hit him, since he was at least nimble enough to dodge my swings. But when I did manage to land a hit on him, it was good and hard, though it jarred my bad hand. I scored a good hit to his side, eventually, and I managed to smack his chest before he crumpled chest heaving, but he smirked at me faintly as he gingerly pushed himself up.

"Didn't think I deserved that much," he muttered, but I grinned at him before offering my hand. Tony took it and dragged himself upright, wheezing but grinning back at me. For a few seconds, normalcy felt immensely good: just me and him, just like it was all supposed to be. I walked with him to the edge of the ring, where he took a few gulps of some green-colored sports drink or other – I assumed – while I topped off with old-fashioned water. After a few moments of recovery, Tony turned to me and asked, "Since when did you fight so well?"

"Since I decided disappearing doesn't always constitute hacking or kicking around baddies," I informed him with a smirk, and he returned the smile weakly. Tony was still out of breath, and that worried me. Was that a side effect of the poisoning? Was he further along than I was?

Did I ask him?

"Tony? Are you all right?"

I shouldn't have. He quickly got up, stepping away from me as he chugged at his drink a bit more. His only response was a muttered "Fine," but I knew better. I wanted to hug him, but I couldn't, somehow. I sighed a little and came up next to him, trying to meet his gaze.

"You don't have to hide it, Tony," I murmured gently, reaching for his hand and squeezing gently. "I'm your sister. It's...it's my job to be worried."

"Hide what?" Tony asked, trying to look innocent, but the thing was I could see through his lies, his denial. It was starting to wear thin. I did my best not to be angry, but it still hurt to pull my hand out of his and tug off my sweatshirt. My reactor was high enough on my sternum that it, and the blackish veins spiderwebbing out from it, were clearly visible.

"This."

I sighed and switched off my music, slipping out my earbuds. Tony looked at my chest – not my eyes – sadly, before his face finally became unguarded. I saw that he felt vulnerable, and alone.

"...should't've yelled at you," he finally mumbled, and I nodded gently.

"Likewise. I – I know I should've told you, but...I had to swap out the cores, and I didn't want you to notice..."

"You've been doing that?" Tony asked in surprise. I would've been hopeful that he didn't have to – meaning he still had a chance – if Mina hadn't told me she'd seen him swap yesterday. "For how long?"

"Month and a half or so," I answered, pairing it with a look specially reserved for him. "Tony, you know that it's concerning when your chest starts growing an unnatural tattoo."

He seemed to quail a little under the look, and I quickly repented as he hung his head, and I took a few steps toward him. I wanted him to hug me, tell me it would be okay. Instead, he turned away slightly to avoid meeting my gaze and muttered, "I thought it wasn't gonna affect you."

I forced a weak chuckle, but I felt my heart breaking. Why didn't this feel better? I had told him I knew, we were supposed to hug, maybe shed a few tears, while Tony swore that we'd fix it...

"Ironic. I...I didn't think it'd come for you. And...I didn't say anything."

"...me neither."

The ache in my chest got worse. It felt like I was talking to a stranger instead of Tony. I turned away, fingering my sweatshirt in silence before my voice shook a little as I told him, "I'm just worried for you, that's all."

"Me too," Tony replied quietly, "for you, I mean."

"...yeah," I forced out, and I couldn't stand it anymore. I pulled my sweatshirt on and quickly escaped from the gym, before Tony saw the tears in my eyes. I had to talk to someone, anyone, just to lose the horrible feeling of loneliness that clawed at my chest. You'd think living alone for a few years, out of fear that your brother would reject you, would make you comfortable with being alone, but that was just my problem. I didn't want to be alone anymore. I'd barely even lived here a year, and I felt like I didn't belong here anymore.

I escaped to my room as a few tears leaked out of my eyes, closing the door and pressing my back into it as I sobbed gently.

"Andy...?" Mina asked quietly, and I rubbed my eyes dry quickly.

"Any word from Sam yet?" I asked shakily, thinking that grabbing lunch out with my best friend would help me get over myself. I had to talk to someone; Pepper was busy with her new job, Happy wasn't exactly an emotional sounding board, and I had no desire to talk to the suspected SHIELD agent now nearby. Major Samantha Matsuo was my best friend from MIT, and she was usually smart enough to help me figure out what to do. It'd actually been her suggestion I move in out here in Malibu, so I owed her at least the time of day.

"Not a thing," Mina replied, voice still low in sympathy. She'd probably seen the whole mess. "What about Colonel Rhodes? He reported back into Edwards this morning..."

"Yeah...yeah, Rhodey's fine," I mumbled, shuffling to my chair and finding my implant to hook into my ear. Mina put the call through, and the phone had barely even rung once before Rhodey answered.

"You okay?" he asked by way of greeting. Either he had caller ID or had been waiting for me to call. I didn't ask him, leaning on my desk a little.

"No," I mumbled, chin braced on the heel of my palm. "I told Tony I knew, and...and I feel like I'm not talking to _Tony_ anymore..."

"About the issue, right?"

"Yeah," I sighed, rubbing at my eyes again but unable to keep the hurt quaver out of my voice. "Isn't it...supposed to feel better, sharing a secret? It...it didn't this time."

Rhodey was silent for awhile, and I silently hoped he'd ask to meet me somewhere, just to get me out of here. Sure enough, when he spoke again, he asked, "Want me to come over? Moral support or somethin'?"

"Could you?" I asked, relief flooding me despite the pain of Tony's unfamiliarity. "I just...I need someone to talk to, and with Sam gone and Pepper running other things –"

"Be there soon's I can," Rhodey cut me off, and I grinned faintly as he continued, "Hey, maybe I can get you another pastry thing..."

"Thanks," I chuckled weakly. I could imagine his smile, and it was impossible not to grin back, even if I couldn't see him.

"No problem, Andy," Rhodey replied, and I really could hear him smiling. "Take care, and see ya soon."

"See ya," I sighed as we hung up, and I couldn't help but grin like a fool before I got up and started rummaging for real clothes. Somehow, already, I felt better. Maybe I could ask Rhodey to stay in Malibu somewhere, instead of at Edwards, so that way I could easily find him to talk. I knew I would need it.

Soon, though, Mina let me know Rhodey was coming up the drive in his black pickup truck, and I tramped downstairs as quickly as I could manage without alerting Tony, and when I opened the door to him, I even surprised myself by throwing my arms around his neck, hugging tight. Rhodey seemed surprised, too, but he took it in stride and hugged me back. I already felt better, mercifully, and I eventually let him go with a weak smile.

"Thanks for coming," I said as I stepped outside, closing the front door behind me. Rhodey just gave me a grin and clapped a hand on my shoulder, squeezing gently.

"No problem. How about we get outta here for awhile?" he suggested, and my smile got a bit stronger. It was the best idea I'd heard all day. Rhodey motioned towards his truck and added, "Anywhere you wanna go."

"Then you better let me drive," I noted, already feeling better the further I got from the house. I could already imagine my favorite little "secret spot" in downtown LA: low lighting, good hamburgers, and classic rock and roll. I had a feeling Rhodey would like it, and it was what I needed: escape.

When I put the truck into gear, I didn't look back. I didn't call Tony to tell him I was going out. I just left, and I felt as if I was leaving the worst place on Earth instead of leaving my home. I didn't even mind.

The little bar wasn't even crowded as Rhodey and I rolled in, and the waitress got us a private corner table. I think it was a good thing, too, because as I started looking over the lunch menu I realized the reactor was achy. Again.

"Crap," I swore, lowering my menu and swiftly manuevering through the core swap. Rhodey watched unobtrusively, and avoided saying anything until we'd placed our order and had gotten our drinks. I was in such a crappy mood I even dared to break my usual rule of abstinence in the face of Tony's indulgences, getting a cold beer with Rhodey instead of my usual lemonade or water.

"Y'know," he started quietly, tone very gentle and wary to avoid setting me off, "there's cameras with those rechargeable batteries that end up goin' on forever. Ain't fair you and Tony don't get somethin' like that."

"And to think I believed him," I muttered as I fingered the brown glass bottle and remembering why I didn't like beer. "Back in that cave. Thought we'd...get out, and it'd all go back to normal. Wouldn't even have to worry about the reactors. Now this."

I took a long drink, pulling a face at the taste of alcohol. Ugh. I swallowed it down, though, and managed a sigh before adding, "Once the last of 'em burns out, I know what I'm switching to..."

Yes, I still had my old reactor, the one that Tony'd originally built for me when we were prisoners with a week to live. It was my backup plan for when this one finally couldn't stay running. Rhodey sighed and took my hand, squeezing gently.

"I don't think he knew this was gonna happen, Andy," he assured me gently, "and, if you die, don't come lookin' for me to write a eulogy, I'm no good at it."

"Yeah, like anyone'd come to my funeral," I snickered a little, still feeling like crap, but Rhodey squeezed my hand a little tighter, and I looked up at him to find his dark eyes fixed on me. The eye contact felt a lot better that the avoidance Tony had leveled at me.

"I'd come, Andy."

I mustered a tiny smile and a thanks before changing the subject. We traded Tony stories, we ate lunch...it was a good time. I tried to keep Rhodey from paying the bill, but he insisted on it, and it was about midafternoon when we wandered out, and I decided I could manage going home. Rhodey drove this time, and when we were stopped at a light he glanced at me.

"Just call and tell me if you wanna get away again, okay?"

"Trust me, I'll need it," I answered with a grin. "A lot."

Rhodey returned my smile and replied, "Me, too."

It coaxed a flush to steal across my cheeks, and the light turned green. I didn't think about what was waiting back home; instead, I thought about how great Rhodey was as a friend. Not to mention I was glad Mina didn't try to peg me as going out on a date. It wasn't.

Was it?


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N:** On a side note, the "imagined" Rhodey is the Terrence Howard version, _not_ the Don Cheadle version. Don, I love ya, but Terrence is more cuddly as Rhodey. MOVING ON!

* * *

I should've known it was too good to be true as Rhodey drove up to the front door. I saw it was cracked open, and I smothered a groan because I knew who was waiting on the other side. Rhodey partially heard my moan, and I think I heard him breathe "Damn" as Tony stepped out, looking at the truck with a faint scowl. I waved Rhodey to stop a little further on, and I heard Mina call at Tony from inside, obviously to buy me some time.

"I don't wanna deal with him right now," I moaned as the truck stopped about halfway between the front door and the ramp down to the garage. My bad mood was starting to return, and I slammed the back of my head against the cushioned set in frustration. Rhodey put a hand on my shoulder, squeezing tightly.

"Don't think I would either," he commented, glancing back to see if Tony was coming for me yet, "but you gotta sometime...even with that mood he's been in. I don't blame you at all."

"No kidding," I sighed, before I unbuckled from the seat and pushed the door open. "If I survive this, I'll see you later."

"Later," Rhodey agreed, and I offered him a smile as I closed the door and ran for the ramp. It was easy enough to race past Tony's cars and my bike, to the stairs. I pushed the door open quietly, started creeping upstairs to avoid being found...and I looked up to find Tony standing at the top of the stairs, arms crossed over his chest. I fought down a scowl as I glared right back.

"Where've you been?" Tony asked briskly as I started marching up the stairs towards him.

"Out," I snapped back as I stopped at the stair just below the landing Tony was blocking my way at.

"Uh _huh_..."

"Do you mind?" I growled, pushing past him and storming into the living room. I would've gone to the kitchen to grab some food to top off lunch, but Tony followed me. I could feel his eyes drilling through my back, and I partly wondered if this was elder-brother-syndrome kicking in or if he was just being a moron.

"Yeah, I mind!"

"Tony, it was one lunch out!" I retorted, stopping just short of the kitchen so I could glare at him. Again, I had a moment of lacking a filter, and before he could retort I'd already stormed on, "What, _you're_ allowed to go around the world and party whenever you want, and _I_ can't go into LA with a family friend and grab lunch?"

"_You_ said that wasn't your thing!"

"The _partying_, Tony," I snapped bitterly, "is what is _not_ my thing. The hanging out with people I don't even _know_ is _not_ my thing! Y'know Rhodes's my friend, too, okay, and you've been shoving him and me off for yourself recently?"

"He said he was busy," Tony tried to excuse, and I would've punched him in the face if my tongue hadn't been faster.

"_Or_ you're just not trusting him, like you're not trusting Pepper! Or trusting _me_!"

It was a fight not to break into tears as I shoved past him again, storming towards my room. I whirled to face him, my chest starting to heave from the restrained sobs. I wanted to beg him to stop this, to be my brother again and hug me, to make it better. I also wanted to rip his stupid head off for being such an absolute jerk and ruining everything we'd been starting to get back. Somehow, magically, my voice found a way to blend those two extremes, so I informed him, voice shaking, "You're just...letting yourself fall like this, and you don't have to! Tony, I've had _enough_ of it!"

I ran up the stairs, sobs tearing at my throat as I ducked into my room and slammed the door. I didn't hear him come after me and I wanted him to. I wanted the man that'd been stuck with me in Afghanistan, who had held me close when I woke up with a car battery wired into my chest and begged him not to die before I did so I didn't have to be alone. I wanted the brother that loved me no matter what, who'd helped me fight Stane – risking his own life – because Stane had hurt me so long ago.

The guy downstairs wasn't the Tony I knew, the Tony I adored. That Tony didn't trust, didn't love, and would rather die than even let his little sister try to help. That Tony was a stranger to me; he wasn't my brother. I shuffled for my chair and collapsed into it, sniffling tiredly before I dug around on one of my desks. Thankfully, I found exactly what I was looking for, and I looked down at it sadly, fingertips pressed on the glass.

The photo was washed out and hazy, but you could still see the two figures in the center. Standing in black robes and wearing his hat at a cocky angle, was a recently-graduated, fifteen-year-old Tony. He was grinning proudly, so close to laughing out loud. And in his arms, holding his diploma and waving a peace sign in the air, was nobody else but me at ten years old. I sniffled faintly, looking at how happy we both were, because we were together, and nothing, back then, could have stopped us from doing whatever we wanted.

It had been the last time we'd been happy. It had been two years later that Dad had died. Two years later that Tony and I had started drifting apart. That Obadiah Stane...

I stopped, slamming the picture onto my desk, and let the sobs come out at last. The pain wasn't gone. Maybe it never would, but one thing was absolutely clear: Tony and I would never be that close again. Trying wouldn't bring that back, but trying would at least get Tony to see what kind of hell he was putting me through.

I still didn't talk to him for the rest of the day, and, wouldn't you believe it, the next day was the day of Tony's yearly pilgrimage to Monaco for the Grand Prix. Pepper, rather than that secret-agent-woman, was the one who came and told me that morning, and I'd asked her if I could stay here instead of getting packed onto the same plane as Tony. Pepper had heard the quaver in my voice and picked her way over to me to offer a tight hug that I was more than happy to return.

"I won't make you get dressed up, all right?" Pepper tried to soothe me, and I couldn't help but laugh gratefully. She knew Tony was acting odd, but she was Tony's special helper, or she tried to be. I'd leave it up to him to tell her. "And I know Tony's not...been himself. I'd get after him, but you do it better than I can."

"Glad you're still sticking around, Pepper," I managed to choke out with a weak smile. "Whole house'd burn down without you."

"I beg to differ, but thank you," Pepper chuckled before squeezing my shoulder. "Plane's taking off in a couple hours, if you still want to come."

"...sure," I sighed, and I managed to pull myself together once she was gone. I threw on some fresh clothes, ran my fingers through my hair, and remembered my Bluetooth before I slid out of my room and speeding downstairs. If Tony told me good morning, I didn't hear, scampering downstairs and getting on my bike and roaring out of the garage. I wasn't in the mood to talk to him, and I needed to get out before I blew up from suffering from his jerkishness.

I made it to LAX and got my bike stored in the jet's small cargo bay before Tony and company arrived, and the plane ride was entirely silent all the way to Monaco. I was first off and first on the road to the Hotel de Paris, apparently where all the swanky rich folk (like me) watched the race. I refused to leave my bike with the valet, in case I needed to make a quick getaway, but it still took me awhile to find a safe place to park. Because of that, I ended up walking back towards the hotel right as Tony arrived, Pepper on his arm, Happy and Miss Secret-Agent behind him. I made sure to slip on my shades and flash my ID at the security people to get in behind the rest of Tony's party, and, of course, I wasn't barred.

I silently followed the group to the Bar Americain, and I detoured while Tony decided to take over a table in the corner. That was still a bad idea, even as I waited for a nice lemonade to try and brighten up my day, because my two least-favorite people in the world weren't too far away.

"Andrea!" Justin Hammer called out joyfully when he spotted me, and I fought down a groan when I saw his current piece of arm candy: Christine Everhart of _Vanity Fair_. Oh, this was going to be good.

"My least favorite person in the world, Justin," I grumbled by way of greeting, and Hammer flung an arm over my shoulders. He stank of really bad cologne, and it was a battle to keep my face straight as he actually started walking me towards his table.

"How ya been? You know Christine, right...?"

Everhart and I glared daggers each other. Of course we knew each other.

"Miss Stark."

"Miss Everhart."

I was going to continue when, miraculously – or maybe at Pepper's insistence – Tony came to my rescue as he was about to head out. Of course, he took the opportunity to give Hammer a very quiet verbal thrashing. Tony still cared about me, at least, and I managed to offer him a grateful smile as I escaped to the Stark table. The best part? Tony actually smiled _back_ at me. Maybe things _were_ starting to look up.

"Where's he off to?" I asked Pepper a few minutes later, impatient to maybe get up the nerve to apologize to Tony for yelling at him again.

"Restroom," she replied, but I knew better. Tony'd found someplace private to test his toxicity. I carefully slipped the Mobile out of a pocket and pressed its camera into my palm. I stole a glance at the screen, and I think my heart jumped to see the result.

Forty-three percent.

Where was Rhodey when I wanted him?

I was quiet for a few more minutes, sucking at the straw in my lemonade before I heard an announcement on one of the TVs in the bar. Apparently, the driver of the Stark car was being changed, and when I turned to see who the new driver was, I nearly spewed my gulp of lemonade across to Hammer's table. _Tony_ was replacing the professional driver. Can we say _suicidal_?

Pepper and I traded one look before I jumped out of my seat and raced outside for my bike, while she looked like she was going for her cell phone to call Happy. That was fine. I had to do something, _now_, before Tony got himself killed. I'd seen these kinds of races on TV before; I knew the crashes could be awful. I cranked the ignition, kicked off the brakes, and roared right towards the track. Without a helmet, because I knew exactly what I was doing as I rapped my implant.

"Mina, activate travel suit."

"Activating," Mina confirmed in my ear, and the black plates of my bike started shifting, opening to reveal hydraulics holding a jet-black metal armor. That same armor was _my_ mark four: a special travel-sized version of the full-bodied Trinity suit. Since it was stored in my bike, I'd had to remove all of the excess weaponry and rockets, so I wore no repulsors in my gauntlets for flight. I _did_ have the unibeam capability, so at least I did have a measure of firepower. I smirked to myself as the chestplate rose up and sealed me in, and the helmet clattered into segmented place over my face. I revved my bike and accelerated as the heads-up display flared to life, and I easily rode up an impromptu ramp of security barricades – much to the displeasure of some French-speaking security guards – and sailed easily onto the track.

"And that, boys and girls," Mina noted as I ground into the race, weaving between cars and riding into the punishing twists and turns, "is why we don't get messed around with by the US government."

"No kidding," I snickered, and I sped up to around a hundred-twenty miles an hour while Mina provided me with a track map, as well as a location on Tony. I streaked past racecars, and I knew I was giving everyone in the world that was watching one hell of a show. I didn't care. I had to stop Tony from killing himself, and I only got more certain of the fact as I spotted the car up ahead and laid on speed until I'd pulled even with him.

"Pull the car over, Tony!" I yelled over the roaring of our engines, even though my exterior speaker was at full volume. He shot me a glare through the visor of his helmet, and I frowned deeply before making sure we were coming into a straight stretch before I took a hand off the handlebars of my bike and jabbed a finger at him.

"I'm not going to watch you kill yourself, now stop the car before I do it for you!"

I saw a flicker in Tony's eyes, and his car slowed to a halt. I managed to skid my bike to a stop a few feet ahead of him, and I pried off my helmet before swinging off and storming towards him. Tony had gotten himself out of the restraining harness and also had his helmet off. I saw that his face seemed more pale and narrow, and I had a feeling he was seeing something similar as I stormed towards him.

"What the hell's gotten into you?" I snapped at him, even as Tony sternly set his hands akimbo. "Why are you even out here, Tony?"

"Because I can be boring when I'm dead!" he snapped back, and my heart shattered.

The entire world seemed to go on mute as I stared at him helplessly. My Tony would _never_ have just given up and insisted he was going to die. My Tony would've stayed up in that box, had told Pepper everything, and we'd all watch the race in safety before going home to solve the mystery of saving our lives. Instead, this monster that pretended to my brother just looked back at me, and he finally seemed to realize that he'd just said the worst thing he could've to me right at that moment. Tony dropped his defiant posture, and he looked helpless again as he ran a hand through his hair.

But it was too late. I shook my head and worked my helmet back on. This wasn't Tony. Tony might've already been dead because of this impostor.

"Whatever, Tony," I told him as I started turning away, back for my bike. "You do _whatever_ you want. Clearly, I wasted my time even trying to care."

I swung back on, ignoring the tears stinging my eyes as I roared back onto the track. I didn't look back, not even when Mina quietly offered to give me a reverse view to watch Tony. Everything I'd been trying to do for nine months had just blown up in my face, and now maybe I'd lost my brother for good. I just kept cruising down the track, not even caring that the Stark car was almost directly behind me and wasn't even trying to overtake me. I was almost tempted to come up with a moving plan, but I remembered the promise I had made at Tony's bedside six months ago. I promised him I wouldn't leave.

Damn me and my sentimentality.

I came around a turn and was ready to pull my bike over into the pits when I saw a track worker out in the middle of the track. Except he wasn't just a track worker; Mina zoomed in to reveal that he was wearing some kind of a harness that sported two crackling whips...and an arc-reactor.

I'd been wrong, and I nearly paid for it as I jumped off my bike. The reactor-wearing man raised one of the whips, and it sliced through my bike easily, sending two halves of my precious bike flying to either side of the track. I pushed myself back to my feet, instead turning towards the oncoming racers. Too bad about that sentimentality of mine, because I burned a furrow in the concrete track to keep Tony and everyone else on the track from running into this guy.

Now I was on my own, and I hoped I didn't fall to pieces before I could get my hands on that reactor.


	6. Chapter 6

Other than that harness and the whips, the man standing in front of me was bare-chested and muscular, disheveled gray hair falling around his face and towards his shoulders. Tattoos covered most of his torso, and I was pretty sure he had more on his legs as I started pacing towards him carefully. I knew he'd snap those whips at me once I got into range, and I had a bad feeling their charge would cut right through the armor. Maybe I could talk him down first.

"Okay, mister, listen up," I snapped, raising my hands to try and keep him calmed but still ready to clench into fists, "either you leave, or you'll find I'm not an easy bite to swallow."

"...that's the best you could come up with?" Mina groaned in my ear, and I scowled darkly before I turned my attention back to my opponent. He was grinning at me, allowing me to see the metallic glint of fillings – or maybe he did have metal plating on his teeth – before he started cracking the whips in a fast circle, taking huge lunges towards me. Oh boy. Talking wasn't going to work. I balled my fists and felt my adrenaline spike. Mina helped there, too, by calling up _Rock and Roll Damnation_. Ah. There was my fight song.

"Okay, you wanna go?" I yelled over the thrum of the charged whips. "Let's go!"

I ran at him at top speed, and it was a miracle that I was able to dodge the whips without getting to badly scorched. My fists met his unarmored shoulders and face, and, even though he tried to crack at me and even got one charged tendril around my waist, I ignored the burning to grab at one of the handles. He retaliated by getting the other whip around my neck. Oh, great.

"Hang on, Andy!" Mina called in my ear as I fought for air so I could grapple at that other handle. "He hasn't busted into the suit yet, get him, get him!"

"Mina, less cheerleading, more keeping an eye on that integrity!" I snapped at her, and she offered a quick apology before I managed to get that other handle. There we go. I grinned at my assailant before I ripped those cords out. They became so much metal wire and electromagnetic coils, and he snarled angrily before trying to jab me in the face. I grabbed his fist and twisted it away, not even getting a grunt of pain out of him. He tried with the other hand, and managed to come at a blind spot. I reeled a little bit, knowing he was in more pain than I was, before I planted a foot in his solar plexus and pushed.

He fell back, but I closed the distance quickly. When he tried to get back on his feet, I pinned him down under one hand while I slammed a fist into his temple. He fell unconscious from the blow, and I sighed in relief.

"That's why I don't resort to ranged fighting," I sighed in relief as I got up and the police started rushing to take him into custody. I stopped them for a second, looking down at the attacker's face so Mina could get a good scan, then I bent down to grab his reactor. It was slightly larger than the one I was wearing, but the design looked different enough that...maybe. Maybe maybe.

"Mina, get a scan of this, and build me a dossier for the guy. I want the rundown in ten before I go talk to him."

"If you're sure, Andy," Mina replied, and I nodded as she triggered the plates to give way on my side so I could carefully stuff the reactor into my jacket pocket. That was about when I remembered people had been watching that.

The crowds were quiet for awhile before someone whooped and screamed, "ALL _RIGHT_, TRINITY!_"_

Oh, no. A fanboy. Both Mina and I swallowed down sighs as the crowd went crazy, and I reluctantly waved before going to recover the two pieces of my bike. _Damn_, that had all been custom, too. I managed to salvage my regular bike helmet and worked off the one to my bike-suit before I started for the exit, continuing to de-armor as I walked. The press flooded around me as I managed to catch up to the guards. Sure, maybe they only spoke French, but they certainly understood the phrase, "I wanna talk to him." The police _then_ formed something of a barrier around me as the currently-unconscious fighter got packed into one cruiser, and I was herded towards another.

Amid all the cries from the reporters to catch my attention, though, I did hear someone I still wasn't in a mood to talk to. The barrier gave way to Tony, who was still in his blue and black racing suit with his own surname across the front. I ignored him as he approached, packing the black plates into the car before myself – so Mina could put the plates together into a stylish black briefcase – and I took the time to check on my broken hand. It didn't look pretty, so I braced myself silently as I moved the bone back into place.

Note to self: don't hit things in the suit after hitting a stone column bare-handed.

"Andy!" Tony sighed, putting a hand on my shoulder. I jerked my shoulder free, not even looking at him as I stepped into the car, closing the door. When he rapped on the glass, I did have the good decency to crack the window so he could talk. "Andy, I'm...I'm sorry."

"For what?" I asked bitterly. No thanks for saving his sorry life or nothing...even though the apology...sort of helped. He looked through at me sadly, his dark eyes wide and pleading, and I saw he had one hand pressed against the glass helplessly.

"Being stupid," he said simply, and I knew he meant it. But I was still mad at him: first not opening up, not letting me help, and then this stunt...it was too much.

"At least the new twist is that I get to clean up your mess this time," I answered coldly. This is partially true; if Tony hadn't gotten in the car, I wouldn't have been out there, that guy wouldn't have tried to kill me instead of Tony, and this situation wouldn't be happening. "How _exciting_. Now excuse me while I do what you haven't."

I closed the window on him, and I turned away as the officer sitting shotgun told his partner to go – in French, but that much I know. I closed my eyes and tried not to cry for hurting Tony. On purpose. I busied myself, instead, with listening to Mina's dossier about our new friend via my Bluetooth. She also noted that she'd call Happy to pick me up from the station, seeing as, well, I didn't have my own transportation anymore. I thanked her for the reminder and asked for the replacement's order to get put in sometime soon.

Our new "problem", if you will, was named Ivan Vanko, a Russian national with a near-lifelong criminal record. Mina skipped most of that, and gave me a few very huge tidbits of information. Firstly, Vanko's father, Anton, had defected from the Soviet Union to sign on with Stark Industries. He was half of the brains behind the original arc-reactor, with Howard Stark comprising the money and the other half of said brains. Secondly, Anton had been deported back to the USSR as a Soviet spy, leaving Dad with full rights to the reactor. What Anton had taken with him was his then-infant son, and during ten years in Siberia, I figured, Ivan had been raised to hate everything Stark Industries stood for.

"He's also an accomplished physicist, practically of the same grade as you and Tony," Mina added as we pulled up at the station. There was no sign of Vanko's car; likely he was already being processed while he came to. "I'm not surprised, considering that if you and Tony could build two arc-reactors in one week in a cave, then it should be simple enough for a man like him to accomplish building one with limited resources."

"And now I get to deal with one of Dad's messes," I sighed as I stepped out of the cruiser, carrying the "briefcase" with me. "What am I, the _only_ righter-of-past-wrongs in this family?"

"Likely," Mina noted as I was led inside and into the maze of corridors. The entire walk was in silence, because I didn't speak French and I doubted the police could speak English. But I was actually proved wrong as we came to a door that was soon unlocked, and one of the cops insisted, "Five minutes."

"You got it," I replied coolly, and I stepped inside, hands in my jeans pockets. The door closed behind me, and I exhaled slowly as I looked around. The room I was standing in was utilitarian and sheet-metal gray, with dinky white fluorescent lights providing the only illumination on Ivan Vanko's dark, weathered skin. He sat on a picnic-like table, his back to me, and, being mostly stripped of clothes, I could see the tapestry of tattoos weaving down his back, his neck, his shoulders. I shook my head a little as I sighed again. _Dad, what have you done?_

"You're an interesting man, Mister Vanko," I began as I walked towards him, my boots thudding quietly on the linoleum tile floor. He didn't reply as I walked around to his side, and I couldn't keep myself from wondering what he would've been like if his father hadn't been deported. For all I knew, he and Tony would have been best friends, and I would've been the annoying little sister following them around. Maybe the three of us, instead of two, would be running Stark Industries right now, or maybe Vanko would've gotten his own company that worked with us often so we could stay in close contact. But that was the past; now I had to fix a problem so it didn't come back to bite me and Tony in the back.

"Y'know," I tried again as I leaned against one end of the table, my own back to Vanko, "I've never seen anything like those whips. Never thought of them. Very impressive."

I glanced back at him, and, through the curtain of dingy gray hair, I saw his bare fragment of a smile as he glanced at me questioningly. Maybe he understood English, but didn't speak it, but that didn't stop me from straightening up and sitting down on the table next to him, my feet dangling next to his.

"Look, Vanko," I sighed, "I know you hate me, and my brother, for what our dad did to your family. I get that, really. I didn't even like my dad that much; I understand."

"...you do?" Vanko spoke at long last. His voice was thick and deep, rolling in a Russian accent that was only a little hard to listen through. I glanced at him, meeting his gaze and nodding.

"Yep. Sure, he tried to fix it via a letter I got a few months ago, but I'm moody as hell and I still hate him."

I got him to smirk at me. Maybe Vanko wasn't that much of a hate-monger and just needed someone to talk to. If you can believe it, I got the feeling of talking to a kindred spirit in Vanko. Someone who'd been alone without someone to steer him the right direction, moved by one single emotion to keep pushing on in the direction he thought was the best way to go. Yeah, that sounded like me, too.

"Vhy?" he eventually asked, and I sighed. At least he could understand English.

"The _great_ Howard Stark didn't particularly like his little nuisance of a daughter getting in the way of his brilliant engineer son," I explained, "or annoying him with some silly idea she had."

I swallowed gingerly, remembering the hundreds of times I'd gone running into his office, whether at home or at the company base in New York, waving a piece of paper covered in crayon doodles of some technological idea I'd had. I'd try to show it to him...only to be waved off. So many times I'd left it there on his desk, hoping he'd look at it and come home to hug me like Mom had before she died. He never did. I banished the lump in my throat before shrugging as nonchalantly as possible before adding, "I deal."

Vanko surveyed me quietly of awhile, and I couldn't help but fidget as I waited for him to talk, to say anything. After all, I was working on baring my soul to a complete stranger, which is no mean feat. I haven't told Tony anything deep and secretive like this since I had told him – in a way – about Stane's injury to me. I don't think I'd ever told him about all those drawings I'd tried giving Dad.

"You look like him," Vanko said suddenly, and my temper spiked. If he so much as _meant_ Dad, I'd walk out as soon as I could. I didn't want to be reminded of Dad by looking at myself in the mirror. Somehow, my annoyance showed on my face, because Vanko quickly amended, "Like brozher."

He was saying I looked like Tony. I managed to smile faintly at that, because, out of all the pictures of Dad I had engrained in my memory, Tony didn't look at all like him. I think he took after Mom. If I looked like Tony, it meant I looked like Mom, too.

I don't know why, but I dug into a pocket and miraculously found both a stub of a pencil and a scrap of paper. I propped one foot onto the table so I could use my knee to scrawl out my phone number, letting Vanko watch in fascination – or maybe confusion. After all, he was used to prisons, and what I was doing probably broke all sorts of prison conduct he'd learned over the years. I didn't care, and I offered him the slip of paper despite the measured look he was offering me in return.

"When you get your phone call," I told him firmly, pressing the paper into his manacled hands, "lemme know. I wanna fix this, Ivan, and I know you're a smart guy. Let's forget what happened between our dads and figure this out sometime."

I let go of his hands so he could look at the phone number, before he looked up at me again. And a miracle happened. Ivan Vanko _smiled_ at me. Not the little smirk from earlier, not the predatory grin he'd thrown at me on the track at the Grand Prix. This was a full-blown, grateful smile, and the part of me that had been so thoroughly scorned by Tony healed over a little at that smile. Maybe – just maybe – I could fix this and bring back the partnership of Vanko and Stark. What sorts of projects we'd crank out then, oh, boy. Future, here we come.

"You...ahe not your brozher," he decided in a low voice, nodding slightly to affirm his observation. "You ahe good voman."

Let me say this, this guy knew how to flatter a girl. I gave him a smirk and a nod in return.

"Thank you, Ivan. Really, I mean it."

I heard the door open behind me, and I started getting to my feet before I turned back to him. I stuck out my hand for him to shake, and I couldn't help but grin warmly as he took it in both hands, shaking firmly. _Take that, Dad. Take that, Tony. I win._

I started walking for the door, but Vanko suddenly called out indecipherably. I still stopped and turned to see him looking at me, before he put his hands on his chest.

"Vanya," he told me firmly, tapping himself on the sternum. "I called...Vanya."

It had to be a nickname, one that he wanted me to call him. It was hard for me to believe I'd gotten through to him so well, and I couldn't help but grin as I imitated his gesture.

"Andy. I'm called Andy, Vanya."

"Ahn-dee," he tried, and I had to grin. Sure, it sounded ridiculous with his accent, but I knew he was doing his best. But he fixed me with a long, meaningful look, and I waved at the officers to keep them from forcibly dragging me out. Vanko – Vanya – took a low breath before stating, "Palladium in chest...veddy painful vay to die."

I stood there dumbstruck for a few seconds. _He knew_. Well, of course he would; he was the only other person in the world that could successfully build an arc-reactor, and had the smarts to know how it worked. I managed a strained little smile before I nodded, mouthing _I know_ before the police pulled me away.

"Well. That was enlightening," Mina noted dryly as I was escorted back to the front door. Happy was there, leaning against the Rolls Royce limousine Tony rode in when he wasn't driving, and I offered him a wave as I hefted the black metal briefcase so Happy could stow it away in the trunk. "On a scale of one to ten, Vanko over Tony as your brother?"

"If I had to pick? Call it even and don't ask again," I replied as I settled into the white upholstery. Happy clambered in and started off, and I sighed heavily.

"Hogan," I noted calmly about halfway through the drive, "if I told Tony I made friends with the guy that tried to kill me, would _he_ tell me I was insane?"

"I would," Happy answered, not even trying to offer a second opinion. I'd persuaded him to be blunt with me whenever we spoke. I shrugged a little as I pulled out Vanya's reactor and rapped it firmly.

"Oh, good. Means I'm not losing it."

I heard Happy shake his head and chuckle faintly as me. Yeah, he knew what I meant. And I knew I'd likely be in for it once Tony heard. I didn't care, though. I was holding a new key to saving ourselves, and I was more than ready to take charge for once.


	7. Chapter 7

For the first time in a long while, I was actually feeling _good_ about my life, and not even jogging up the stairs into the private jet to meet the smell of burning metal could dampen my mood. The reactor was back in my pocket, and I glanced into the kitchen, hoping to see Pepper there attempting to put something together. I was proved _very_ wrong, and I couldn't help but stare at Tony, wearing jeans, shirt, and an _apron_, working diligently at the small stove. Eggshells and spatters of egg-insides dirtied the otherwise-spotless counter, and I had a hard time so much as blinking.

"Since when do you cook, Tony?" I asked in consternation as he turned to look at me, managing a very, very weak little smile.

"Since..." he started saying, but pausing before he asked, "How long were you gone?"

"Couple hours," I replied, brows rising in amazement. My brother, a verifiable genius in a few different fields, was trying to teach himself to _cook_. Oh, boy. I was already feeling my appetite starting to lag.

"Yeah. That's about how long I've known how to cook."

"You know this's why I eat Hot Pockets...?"

"And why I eat pizza, I know," Tony replied with a sigh before waving me out. I shook my head and set about with settling in. Pepper was there, and I offered her a smile before she nodded to the flatscreen TV at the front of the plane. I pulled my laptop from under the seat I was in before I glanced, and I gaped to see Senator Stern there, and Pepper clicked up the volume a little. In short, he was turning my useful life-saving maneuver against Vanya into a political soapbox to protest my estimation about arc-reactor technology – and, by extension, the technology of the suits – being five to ten years away.

"There goes my governmental immunity," I groaned as I pulled out Vanya's reactor and powered up my computer. I ignored Stern's politicizing as I started analyzing the new reactor in my possession and noting my findings either to Mina or in a few typed notes. I could have Jarvis scan it later.

I smelled something burning again and looked up from my work to see Tony starting to come out of the kitchen, carrying two covered plates in each hand. Of course, the plane's engine roared, and I panicked, grabbing at my seat with one hand while I dug around to find a paper airsickness bag. No, I don't like flying in planes, yes, my body is a hypocrite.

"I realize I hate flying," I moaned as we took off, and once the plane leveled up and my gut stopped threatening to overturn I turned back to my computer. Tony came up behind me, and set the plate on a small table nearby, along with a set of silverware out of one pocket. I glanced at him suspiciously, and I noticed the small paper note taped onto the cover. I turned so I could watch him deliver another plate to Pepper, who looked up from her work of managing the company in confusion before he sat down across from her.

Instead of watching them, I turned my attention to my plate and carefully pried the note free before unfolding it.

_Andy_, it read in Tony's scrawl,

_Sorry I've been a jerk. Sorry I never told you anything. Want to fix it; please help? _

I had to fight back a smile. _Finally_. I gently kissed the note and stuffed it into a pocket before raising the cover...to find the ugliest mess of eggs I had ever seen. Okay, now I had to keep Tony away from the kitchen for the rest of his life. I recovered the plate, appetite thoroughly gone, and instead settled back at my computer. But I heard Tony and Pepper still.

"I don't wanna go back home," he began, and it went on with the semi-usual banter. But I realized what Tony was trying to do: he was trying to tell Pepper that he was dying. Pepper wasn't even giving him the time of day anymore. I shook my head slightly as Pepper practically dismissed Tony, and, in defeat, he got up and settled near me instead.

"Did you get that from that guy?" he asked, nodding at the reactor glowing next to me. I glanced at it, then at Tony before picking it up and examining it.

"Ivan Vanko. Yep."

"...you found out _that_ fast?"

"I have constant contact with Mina?" I replied, motioning to my implant. "I kinda had to, considering she got me his profile before I went to go talk to him."

"Mina, right," Tony noted, nodding absently before he processed my entire statement. When he did, Tony's eyes widened in shock before he stammered, "You went to _meet him_?"

"Yes, I did," I answered briefly, "and, before you jump all over me, he's brilliant like you. I mean, he made this!"

I wave the reactor at Tony, and he looked tempted to snatch it out of my hand. He did look thoughtful, though, before Tony glanced at me almost hopefully.

"Is it better than ours?"

I knew what he meant by better. I thought about that note in my pocket and shrugged a little.

"Not sure, but that's why it's here and not with the French."

"If it _does_...work better, that is..."

Tony trailed off, and I knew what he was thinking, because I was thinking it, too. We could live if it worked better. No more worrying about palladium toxicity, and life would go back to normal. At least, as normal as it got for the two of us. I couldn't help but offer a small smile.

"If it does, I'm pulling the strings," I insisted. "He'd be like to kill you, probably."

"Figures..."

"Still. He's not a bad guy once you get through to him."

I shouldn't have said it. I really shouldn't have. Tony's eyes seemed to flicker gently as he leaned in towards me.

"How d'you figure that?"

"I got through to him. If I hadn't, he'd hate me, but now he doesn't. Because I did."

"You must be really persuasive."

I _really_ shouldn't have said this part.

"No," I bit back, "I'm in need of a real friend for once in my life."

Bad move. Bad, bad, _bad_ move.

"So you buddy up with the guy that would've tried to kill me? Oh, nice, Andy..."

"Yeah, well, I had a way of sympathizing with him. Besides, if you were him, wouldn't _you_ want to kill you?"

"Well, maybe, but that's not the point..."

"No, Tony," I snapped suddenly. "The point is that a thing of _Dad's_ cropped up, and I've handled it. I cut right to the heart of the whole mess, while you sat around here and _moped_ because you want to get a buzz out of life!" I avoided any mentions of dying; Pepper knowing was _Tony's_ can of worms, not mine. Tony fixed me a look.

"There's nothing _left_ to do!"

"If you decided to just drop dead and die, like, right now," I hissed, "I don't think I'd even _cry_."

That did it. Tony just _looked_ at me as if he really was, y'know, dead before shaking his head at me.

"And once I thought you really would."

He got up and walked to the back room, closing the door. Once it was closed, though, I groaned and slapped myself in the face. That had been _so_ profoundly _stupid_ of me. I settled in to keep up my analysis, but then I was struck by a few thoughts. Wasn't he doing _just_ what I'd accused him of? He was barely even trying, and maybe I at least had a jumping-off point to chase off of. So I managed my life like I always did, because I could function when a dozen things were happening at once. Tony's method involved not giving a damn and turning his life on its head. Out of the two, I preferred my way.

I put Tony out of my mind for the rest of the flight, and Pepper offered drive me back to the house herself, and I was more than grateful for the separation as I settled into Pepper's own Audi – not an R8 like Tony had two of, but still equally classy – and got driven back to the house ahead of Happy and Tony. I noticed the Rolls turning off elsewhere, and I worried for a few seconds before settling in again.

"Andy," Pepper eventually said, "what's going on with you and Tony? You two keep...yelling and fighting, and it was only, what, two months ago that never happened?"

"It's not for me to say, Pepper," I sighed, rubbing my face. "Let's just say that I'm handling it one way, and Tony's handling it another."

"...is he going to get hurt?"

I sighed and glanced at her before reaching to pat her shoulder, managing to offer a hopeful smile.

"Maybe he'll get over himself before he does."

"That would be a miracle."

"...yeah, no kidding," I agreed quietly, lowering my hand. After all, it had taken Tony nearly dying about ten months ago, now, to snap back into something like reality. What would it take this time? Him _really_ dying? God, I hoped not.

Pepper dropped me off, and I headed right for the garage so long as Tony was out doing whatever he was doing. With Mina, Jarvis, and Dummy holding the reactor still, I finished out the analysis. And guess what? Vanya's reactor ran off _less_ palladium, but achieved the _exact same output_ as the concentrated strip Tony had designed for the new reactors. Hello, sweet temporary _victory_. Jarvis went ahead and got two made, one for me and one for Tony – mostly because today was a special day for Tony and it'd be nice for him to get an excellent gift like this – and it was a couple hours later that I was fidgeting with the new reactor, getting ready for the swap. I had the reactor that was already in my chest ready to pop out, and the new one was in my other hand to slam in.

The phone had to ring right as I was pulling out the first reactor. _Crap_.

"Mina, put it through to the Bluetooth," I groaned as I struggled to finish pushing home the new reactor. The line clicked through soundly as I finally got the reactor in, and I managed to state evenly, "Hi, this's Andy Stark, I'm a little busy at the moment, so please make it quick..."

"It's James," Rhodey's voice stated in my ear, and I was so stunned to hear him use his first name towards me that I barely noticed the hard leap my heart took as the leftover shards wrenched out of the muscle. I made a very quick check of toxicity as he continued, "You okay over there? Saw what happened on the news..._and_ that sounded like you just got shot. Again."

"Oh, yeah, all's fine, hi, Rhodey," I replied, even though I was grinning at the results. _Forty-four percent! _The palladium level was _dropping_ from yesterday. For now, I was going to live. "Testing out a new reactor, and it's _working_! The levels went down, and I've got a temporary patch, thank _God_."

"That's _great_! Oh, wow..." Rhodey replied, and again I could hear the grin on his face.

"Yeah, I'm already feeling better," I continued leaning back in Tony's desk chair and grinning my face off. "Might have to watch the palladium levels for a bit, but this design has less palladium, so it should be fine..."

"This makes what I was gonna ask even better, then," Rhodey commented as I rapped on the reactor quite cheerfully. I idly decided to thank Vanya for his design when he called.

"Shoot."

"Maybe you'd...uh...like to go out to dinner tonight?"

If I'd been standing I would have fallen down. Rhodey was...asking me _out_-out. Now, I hadn't done anything like that since that night with Moreau after the benefit dance, but that was different. This was _Rhodey_, Tony's best friend even if that status was temporarily revoked right now. And I was Tony's _sister_. Oh boy. Well, if Tony could do insane stuff like drive in the Grand Prix, then going out with Tony's best friend wasn't that crazy in comparison...

"Well, I think if I bribe the overprotective older brother I think I can manage..." I replied, and it got Rhodey to laugh. I couldn't help but grin, because I hadn't heard Rhodey laugh in a long time.

"Whatever works, right?" he chuckled, and I fought down a faint sigh of agreement. "It's not that fancy, do don't worry about a dress or anythin' like that. I'm gonna be in jeans, just so ya know."

"Thanks for remembering my comfort zone," I chuckled, even as I started feeling...excited. I was going _out_. I'd never done that so..._freely_ before. It even made me feel a little rebellious, so I added, "Even if the bribe works, I'll be ready for pickup. How's...seven-thirty?"

"Works great," Rhodey affirmed, and I couldn't help but grin, I was going _out_, with _Rhodey_, at seven-thirty. For me, this is _nuts_.

"Awesome. Guess I'll see ya."

I hung up once Rhodey had said likewise, and I threw my hands up in the air to laugh. I was going to live just a bit longer, and I was going on my second date, with or without Tony's go-ahead. Again, things were looking up.

"Miss Andy, Mister Stark is returning via the front door," Jarvis reported while I was exulting, and I snatched up Tony's new reactor. Time to bribe.

"Thanks, Jarvy!" I replied before pushing the door open and bounding upstairs. I swear, Jarvis had amazing timing, because Tony was _just_ coming through the front door as I arrived in the living room. I fought back my victorious smile as he came around the bend, and I noticed something seemed off. He was suddenly looking more upbeat than he had just a few hours ago, and I arched a brow at it, even as I hid the reactor behind my back.

"You look different," I noted dryly, and Tony glanced up to notice me.

"I do?"

"Yeah. Weird-different."

I let it go as I sidled up close, and I let a smile creep onto my face.

"Guess what I found out."

"You...hm," Tony began, thinking. The weirdness of him became more apparent, and my high mood dampened only slightly before he shrugged in defeat.

"Vanko's design uses less palladium with similar output," I informed Tony brightly, and his brows rose as he immediately caught that implication. "With greater efficiency, too. I lost two points right on switching."

Tony looked at me for the longest time. And then...he smiled. Seeing that smile suddenly made all the fights, all the anger and pain, just go away. I even forgot he was acting weird as he stammered, "Wow, Andy...just..._wow_..."

"And, yes, I remember what today is," I pressed, slowly pulling the reactor out from behind me before offering it with a small smile. "Happy birthday, Tony."

He crossed over to me on the instant and hugged me tight. I couldn't keep myself from hugging back, and I didn't want to. Everything felt _right_, at that exact moment. Tony was my brother again, holding me tight and insisting all would be well just by holding me against him. Normalcy had _never_ felt so good, and I felt even better when Tony firmly kissed the top of my head.

"Sorry I keep yelling," he sighed quietly, still holding me close. "I don't mean it, ever."

"Me, too," I murmured in reply, "even if you _have_ been a jerk..."

It earned a warm chuckle as Tony finally – and reluctantly – let me go. Time to spring the evening schedule on him, I figured.

"Now...I _do_ have a favor to ask..."

"Bribery," he laughed. "Knew it."

I looked up at him and saw the smile there, not just on his face, but in his eyes. I didn't worry at all, then, as I pressed the reactor into his hands. Here it went.

"Rhodey asked me out to dinner tonight."

Tony _stared_ at me. Yeah, I knew that was coming...

"Rhodey _wha_?" he asked. "This's the same Rhodey we're talking about, right...?"

"Yep, lieutenant colonel, turned up at the hearing," I confirmed. "He asked me out. Tonight. You're gonna be okay here, right? I mean, we can stay here, I don't think he'd mind..."

"Yeah, yeah, I got Natalie here," Tony replied, and I kept myself from pulling a face. So _that_ was the little skank's name. "Besides, I've got...not party...more like social event, planned. Had Pepper working on it, and you two'd _better_ be there. Cake might be necessary."

The sheer idea of Tony having something actually _normal_ planned practically floored me, and I grinned.

"Nine-thirty or so good for you?"

"Yeah, ish."

"We'll be there."

I hugged him again, smiling. _Thank you, God, for making Tony sane again_.

"Thanks. Y'know I love you, right?"

"'Course I do," Tony chuckled as he hugged back. "Love you, too."

My day could _not_ have gotten better as I practically floated up to my room to actually put some effort into looking good for Rhodey. Besides, we had a party to come to, afterward, and I wasn't going to let anything mess it all up. I left the Bluetooth on my desk upstairs, and I was downstairs and ready right smack at seven-thirty.

This time, I glanced back out of Rhodey's truck and waved at Tony. He waved back, and I was so sure that things were going to start going back to normal.

I didn't know how wrong I was about to be proved.


	8. Chapter 8

**MINA**

I don't know how it happened. One moment, Tony was getting dressed, ready for his "social event"...and then, the next, I was halfway locked out, and he was calling up every single party maniac in the greater Los Angeles area. I panicked; I knew Andy had left her Bluetooth, didn't have her phone, and now something _bad_ was about to happen.

I used my emergency bypass to get back in the mainframe, and I quickly found Jarvis trying to figure out what had happened, scanning the feeds, anything. It was something like a command center, and he was in the middle of it, accessing every camera he could to find what had happened. I slipped in, keeping my presence to a minimum in case Tony figured out a way to block me despite the bypass Andy had equipped me with.

"Jarvis, what _happened_?" I asked, taking a clump of feeds to start palming through. He sighed, and, us being two thoroughly interesting AIs, managed to put together a physical appearance within the house. I had one, too, and, as we interfaced, we established our own "room" within the mainframe. The feeds became more organized, wood paneling became predominant with the touches of the modern. I formed my slender female appearance, clipped red hair falling into dark eyes as I pictured military-styled fatigues, and they appeared on my person. Jarvis himself appeared as a middle-aged gentleman, every image the butler all the way down to the black tails.

"I'm not entirely sure," he replied, offering me a handful of security feeds to scan through. "I believe Miss Rushman came into his room to speak with him, though I was dismissed before I could listen to what they had to say..."

I had to stifle a groan. I hadn't yet told Andy about my voyage into the SHIELD database to find dirt on Miss Rushman, but the summary was very simple. Natalie Rushman was not Natalie Rushman. Her real name, it turned out, was Natasha Romanoff, and she was, indeed, a SHIELD agent undercover at Stark Industries to evaluate and watch over – _not at all_, really – Andy and Tony. I ended up, after looking over her files, firmly believing that Agent Romanoff was certainly not everything she seemed to be.

"Where's the feed to Tony's bedroom?" I asked, kicking in my full security bypass so I could check. Jarvis managed to help me find the correct feed, and I expanded it to where we were "standing" in Tony's room ten minutes before. Oooh, sometimes I dearly loved being me.

Tony was standing at his window, surveying the extent of his poisoning damage – it was _awful_, let me put it that way – and the "new Pepper" came in to ask about a watch. _Sigh_. I hoped she wasn't staying for long as Tony made the screen before him vanish.

"Makers, this is _dull_," I grumbled as Tony attempted to banter, because I _knew_ he was starting to take that certain bent again. It was a bent Andy had described to me, and, from the look on Jarvis's "face" as we reviewed the footage, he knew exactly what I was about to get at. "When it's Pepper, fine, but this is plain disgusting."

"I wish Mister Stark does _not_ break his new record for time spent at home _without_ an unnamed guest," Jarvis sighed, and I couldn't help but grin. Tony might have programmed his AI with a certain grade of snark, but I knew I was influencing him, just slightly. "Nine months of relative quiet is something I would appreciate making ten."

"Right on," I agreed firmly. We continued watching as Rushman/Romanoff brought Tony his box of thoroughly expensive watches, and then started mixing him a martini. I noticed she was fidgeting at her phone, and I quickly checked the signal. The number I received was all zeroes, and I had an itchy feeling she had been communicating with a certain one-eyed spy master. "Hm. Well, that's one theory proved rightly..."

Jarvis shushed me as Rushman/Romanoff poured the martini, including a lemon rind instead of a toothpick of olives like Tony usually liked. I didn't stop another groan as she presented it to Tony with the question of "Is it dirty enough for you?"

But after Tony had taken a sip of the martini, he asked a very, _very_ telling question. I knew Jarvis was as equally surprised as I was, and I knew, knew, _knew_ Andy would have strangled Tony for the bare thought as he voiced it.

"If you were about to go to your last birthday party ever, what would you do?"

"Tony, _no_," I moaned faintly, shaking my head. "Dammit, Andy hates it when you think like that...that's the same thinking that put her against Vanko..."

It got worse with Rushmanoff's reply. If I could have, I would have strangled her myself, in the Trinity armor.

"I would do whatever I wanted to do with whomever I wanted to do it with."

I cut the feed, feeling my codes starting to sizzle with righteous anger. Andy was going to be _furious_ if she came home to find this mess, and I was already furious because when Tony had told her _social event_, I'd thought him, Pepper, Andy, Rhodes, done. But _no_. Jarvis used his simulacrum to put his hand on my avatar's shoulder, and I was surprised to feel him squeeze gently.

"Miss Andy will not approve."

"Hell, no, she won't," I retorted. "We have to do something before she and Rhodes come back."

"Mister Stark has entirely locked me out," Jarvis insisted. "You, however, are more properly armed for this sort of situation."

"True," I noted. "Not to mention Andy would approve if we stopped this mess before it gets out of control."

I exited the interface and activated my master bypass, reopening the house network under my sole command. I couldn't help but smile at myself as I decided to activate the house alarms, just as a start off. It scared a few people out, but someone managed to find the mute and the party continued growing. The situation grew worse as Tony appeared, in the Mark IV suit. I routed myself into it quickly, and attempted to work a shutdown on it, but _that_ worked well.

I settled into the network, watching as the party became loud, raunchy, and Tony got into the champagne on top of that martini he had had earlier. I _knew_ Andy would murder him if she came home to this mess, and I noticed with a sinking feeling that Andy's estimated arrival of nine-thirty was starting to draw closer. I could already imagine Andy's entrance as she and Rhodes drove up: consternation at the sheer number of people arriving, the thunder of music entirely against both Andy and Tony's tastes practically registering on local seismometers. Then they would walk inside and look around in horror, and see what a spectacle Tony was putting on...I didn't know what Rhodes would think, but I know Andy would first be hurt, then _angry_. Andy had always been annoyed or upset on Tony's account, but never, _ever_ angry with him. If she wanted to beat the life out of him for this stunt, I would _not_ blame her an inch.

I decided, in such a case, to start a massive first-floor-and-up shutdown. First came overriding the power controls, then queuing up the shutdown on a certain signal. I let that function run as I checked the time, finding that it was nine-twenty-five. Andy and Rhodes would be coming up the drive, and likely noticing the large number of cars pulling in. I urged the commands to finish applying, and, as that slowly went (likely because of the lockdown Tony had set), I had to watch as Tony sank deeper and deeper into the effects of the alcohol. He tried dancing to the music, up near the DJ, but only ended up nearly falling down.

The commands finally applied, and I felt the query snap at my attention. I heaved a  
"deep breath" as I saw two familiar silhouettes appear in the midst of the madness. It was time to exercise my right as the house security system, and it was for both Andy's and Tony's sakes.

"Shut down," I breathed softly. I hoped it would work at stopping the party, and that this wouldn't fall apart into an even worse disaster.


	9. Chapter 9

It was nine-thirty exactly when Rhodey and I pulled up the drive, and I stared in mingled shock and horror to see the huge number of cars pulling in, as well as the great proportion of women walking into my home. Rhodey stopped a few feet short of the front door, and he shook his head at the sight. But it wasn't him, or the house, or the guests I was worried about. I was worried about Tony.

"What is he up to?" I asked after a few minutes of stunned silence between myself and Rhodey. "I don't like this, I shouldn't have been so optimistic and left my Bluetooth behind..."

"Shoulda just brought a pizza," Rhodey agreed as he turned off the engine and started getting out of the truck. I followed suit as he added, "Then we could've kept an eye on him."

"Same here," I noted as I got out of the truck. I knew I wasn't dressed to take on Tony bare-handed; I'd actually scrounged together something remotely nice-looking in a blouse, blazer, and nice jeans with flats. But depending on what awaited inside my house – okay, Tony's house, but it was my home, too – I was more than ready to exercise some kind of force, because I'd had _enough_ of Tony's "oh, I'm dying, I need to have fun!" antics. It would stop tonight. "Let's check it out."

Rhodey made sure to lock his truck as we headed for the front door, meshing into the crowd trickling through the front door. My head started throbbing at the annoying, trashy dance music thudding out of the house speakers, and I felt sicker when I looked around. The living room had become a dance floor, and at a bar I had never seen before, near where the DJ had set up his computer, was none other than the birthday boy himself. He was in his mark four suit, faceplate up so he could take long drinks from a bottle of champagne in one gauntleted hand. I tore my gaze away in pain as he found a microphone and was about to speak...before the power died.

"Mina, I love you," I breathed, knowing she would've exercised her security bypass to stop this mess. I felt even better as her cold red emergency lights switched on, and Mina's voice boomed through the house.

"The party is officially over!" my AI stated firmly, and my fists clenched slowly as I looked at Tony, who looked mildly unsteady. "Everyone, out, _now_."

"No, no, Mina, Mina, come _on_!" Tony protested. "It's my _birthday_, I'm supposed to have fun...!"

"I don't want to hear it!" Mina snapped in reply, and a quick glance around revealed that the lights in the garage were still on. Thank God. "I am in control of the house right now, Tony, and as such, I'm ordering all party guests _out of the house_. And _you_, Mister Stark, are going to remove your suit!"

"Damn straight, Mina," I murmured, and I felt my shock starting to melt away. This was a new ballgame. Tony was drunk, armored, and dying, and I was sick and tired of watching him pull off stunts that stroked his ego. I was tired of him so set to die, I was tired of trying to make things work while he worked so hard against me. I was done.

But things got worse. Even with the power extinguished, Tony kept trying to talk it back on. He even declared the "party" over – nearly making Mina bring back the power, I knew –before announcing the _after_-party. I was already starting to lead Rhodey downstairs when I heard the familiar sound of the repulsor, and shattering glass. I froze, turning to see Tony's arm raised, and the glass wall that encased a nice little waterfall was gone, leaving streams of water running down. I knew right what was coming next as the crowd burst into excitement, and the shooting games began. That was the final straw, and I managed to duck under a spray of champagne with Rhodey right behind me before descending quickly.

"Sorry you had to see that," I panted, my adrenaline starting to spike up to go with the stress of what was happening. I wasn't annoyed with Tony anymore. I was two steps beyond it now. "But we've got trouble to avert."

The door control flashed red as Mina bypassed the lock, and I shoved the door open before I started barking, "Mina! Get the suit active, override the personalization controls on Tony's mark two. Rhodey, have some fun with me for a sec."

"Andy, you sure this's smart?" Rhodey asked as I stepped onto the arming platform and extended my arms so the robots could encase me in the black and gold plates. "He's got his on, too –"

"Talking isn't going to get it fixed, Rhodey!" I snapped a little harshly, my temper darkening. "He's drunk, he's stupid, and he's _dying_. He thinks this is what's going to make his day before he dies, and I am _not_ going to let him go like this!"

Rhodey thought it over in silence as I geared up, and Mina coaxed the gantry to disassemble the mark two as I stepped off, fully armored. I knew he still thought Tony as his best friend, and Tony was getting himself to the biggest heap of trouble in recent history. I had a feeling that Rhodey blamed himself somewhat for our capture in Afghanistan, and his sense of honor would push at him to make up for it somehow. When Rhodey nodded in agreement and stepped up to get put in the armor, I managed a smile and started up the stairs. I left my faceplate down; I didn't want to cry. I didn't want Tony to see me cry, because that strategy had gotten me absolutely nowhere.

"I think she wants the Gallagher!" Tony was yelling as I stepped back into the living room, and watched silently as a drunk blond threw a watermelon into the air. Tony fired off the uni-beam at it, but as the shower of seeds and red flesh came down – I was outside the splash zone – I snapped up one hand and fired off a repulsor shot. It seared over heads and caught Tony in the shoulder, sending him spinning backwards before falling over. I folded my brows and steeled my voice over as Mina flashed that Rhodey was coming up.

"You heard the AI!" I roared. "And now you're hearing me! Get the hell out!"

People started scattering in panic, both because I was standing right there and I had come pretty close to blasting someone's head off, and the crowd really dispersed as Rhodey appeared, faceplate up and frowning. The red glow of the emergency lights cast a similar light on the silver plating of the mark two, and I idly noticed that Rhodey looked like he was drenched in blood. Meanwhile, Tony was slowly getting to his feet, and he looked annoyed as he fixed his gaze across the living room at Rhodey and me.

"It doesn't have to be like this, Tony," I said quietly once the place had been cleared. "Take it off, now, Tony, and we don't have to go any further down this road."

"It's still my house," he huffed, finding another bottle of alcohol. I snarled and fired another blast, and Tony stared blankly at the bottle neck in his hand. My chest was starting to heave, and I knew what it was. I wasn't annoyed, exasperated, or frustrated anymore. I was _angry_.

"It's our house!" I retorted. "Now take it off!"

Instead of verbally replying, Tony flipped me the bird. My eyes widened and my entire frame burned red-hot. Rhodey took my shoulder in worry.

"It's like he's tryin' to lose," he muttered, but I would have none of it. Either Tony was going to come to his senses, or...I don't know. I just shook my head, and I heard Mina swallow warily in my ear.

"Music?"

"Yeah."

"Special request?""

"..._Razor's Edge_."

Instead of just playing the song in my suit, Mina channeled it through the entire house speaker system, and the grating guitars echoed how I felt as I took a few steps forward into the living room. Tony mirrored me, and, slowly, we started circling each other like two predators about to claw over a piece of meat or a scrap of territory. I swallowed down sobs sticking in my throat, but it didn't stop the tears as I made the first move. _Tony, I'm sorry, I'm so, so sorry_.

I fired off a glancing blast from one palm before I pushed off the ground, rockets roaring for a few short seconds as I plowed right into Tony. Trust me, the force of two human beings in huge armored suits is a lot more than you'd expect, and we slammed through the wall between living room and gym. Tony met the floor first, and I rolled over him before I skidded to a halt, but I forced myself to my feet, chest still heaving. Tony managed to jump up, and the brawl that ensued wasn't in Tony's favor. I punched; I kicked; I wrestled him into the ring's mat, letting my rage pour out of me like some animal. I eventually flung him into a wall, one hand clamped on his shoulder.

"It's for your own _good_!" I insisted, trying to meet his gaze even though both of our faceplates were down.

"I know exactly what I'm doing, Andy!"

"No, you don't!" I retorted, even as he suddenly kicked me in the gut and pushed me back. I managed to use the rockets to backflip away, and then I charged, getting a spin-kick across his face. Tony fell to the floor, and I grabbed him up again, shaking him from the chestplate of his armor. Mina managed to hack in a feed into Tony's helmet, and I saw that he had his eyes closed. He didn't want to look me in the face; not register how badly he'd hurt me with this one. I kept my gaze on him, lowering my voice so he could hear my pain.

"Tony…I am _begging _you," I pleaded. "Stop. _Please_. Let us help."

"Can't," was all that he replied, voice equally low and weak. I shook him gently, more desperation coming out as my anger melted away into fear. I didn't want to lose Tony again. I didn't want to fight him anymore.

"Then let us _help_!" I pressed, and I felt tears starting to course down my face. "Dammit, Tony, I don't want to fight you anymore! I'm sick and tired of fighting you!"

"Then lemme fight him," Tony answered apathetically, motioning off to Rhodey in the Mark II. Rhodey moved back in disbelief, and I could imagine the expression on his face.

"Dude, why the hell do you think I wanna fight _you_?" Rhodey asked, sounding disgusted with Tony, almost. Tony was about to get away from me to attack Rhodey, but I tightened my grip and pressed him into the wall a little harder.

"_No_. Either we stop this right now, or we go to its final stupidity." I fought back the tears, my chest heaving from the contained sobs. _Please, Tony, stop making me do this to you._ "Don't do this to me. _Please_, Tony."

Tony raised his head a little, and the cam shot Mina was giving me showed his eyes open and full of pain. Before I could so much as wait for his reply, I felt Rhodey's hand on my shoulder, gently trying to pull me away. I glanced at him, and I saw resignation in his stance.

"Come on," he urged quietly. "We might as well leave him to it."

It happened all in an instant. I saw Tony's face contort with anger, and his hand snapped up to fire a repulsor blast. It was meant to glance past Rhodey, I know it, but, I mean, Tony was drunk. But the fact that he wanted to shoot made the pain of the repulsor sinking into my stomach and throwing me off my feet all the more bitter.

Time felt like it was passing extraordinarily slowly as I landed, skidding along the floor for a few inches before coming to a halt. Tears leaked out from my eyes, and I heard metal meeting metal again; Rhodey was coming to my defense and fighting Tony. But even as they crashed through the upper levels of the house, I lay there on the floor, my desperation twisting and transforming into something else. Not just anger, not just frustration and exasperation. When I heard them crash back down, into the kitchen, I forced myself to my feet and marched through the hole in the wall, through the living room, and into the kitchen. I arrived in time to find Rhodey being slammed into the kitchen sink, and when he slumped slightly from the force of the blow, I saw, not just the party guests, but Pepper and Happy looking on in horror at what Tony was doing.

Tony turned to the guests and roared, in mingled pain and anger, and before Rhodey could get to his feet, I slid between them, both hands raised toward Tony.

"Mina. Warn Rhodey to move. _Now_."

Tony snapped up one arm in reply to my move, and Rhodey tried moving me out of the way. I shrugged his hand off my shoulder, and I sharpened my focus as Mina channeled power to not just the repulsors in my hands, but the uni-beam in my chest. I suddenly realized that Tony wasn't aiming to shoot back at me; he was trying to call me off.

I think I heard him yelling at me, and Rhodey tried again to move me. I suddenly realized I couldn't stop the power, and I screamed in shocked pain as I suddenly released a triple blast, right into Tony. I managed to stop it after a second, but Tony was already firmly crushed into the wall, and he slowly fell out of his mold, not moving. I froze for a few seconds before I rushed to his side, grabbing his arm so Mina could get a direct scan.

"…you didn't kill him, did you?" Rhodey asked quietly as Mina came back with a positive reading on Tony's life-signs, though she'd also taken the liberty of checking his palladium toxicity. It was hovering around ninety percent. _My God, Tony, I'm sorry, I'm sorry…_

I didn't answer Rhodey as I hefted Tony and carried him downstairs into the garage, holding him still as the gantry unsuited Tony, and then I set him on the sofa before crouching next to him, slowly pulling off my helmet. That was when I realized that I was crying so hard that I couldn't even sob.

"Didn't wanna," I managed to choke out as Rhodey sank down next to me, armor and all, and gently put and arm over my shoulder. "I didn't wanna…"

"Sh, Andy…s'okay," he soothed, and I realized that he'd also taken off his helmet as he hugged me tightly. I clung to the silvery chestplate and wept against it. I hadn't wanted to hurt Tony so badly. I hadn't wanted to hurt Tony at all.

"I want my brother back," I pleaded quietly after awhile. "I want _my_ Tony…not this…this…._monster_."

"I know, Andy, I know," Rhodey assured me. "And we're _gonna_ get him back, okay? He's gonna be fine."

I managed a nod before my chest suddenly hitched. I felt like I was about to be sick to my stomach as I coiled in on myself, and when I glanced at my chest I saw the Vanya-inspired reactor sputtering weakly. I'd overloaded it with that triple blast, and I struggled to get my chestplate off.

"Not good," I panted, feeling my chest contract again, and my neck was starting to itch. "Rhodey…I need…my old reactor…"

"Where?" he asked, quickly getting to his feet while I kept working free. I even pulled off my undershirt to get down to my sports bra, and I saw that the purple-black veins were reaching up into my neck. This wasn't good. At all.

"My desk, middle drawer!" I barked as I started extricating the flickering reactor, and smoke rose out of the cavity as I pulled it out. Rhodey came dashing back with the reactor Tony had built for me so long ago, and I grabbed it when I felt my heart start beating irregularly and rammed it home. My chest heaved as the power kicked in, and I coughed weakly while I felt something inside the suit prick me so Mina could get a reading.

"Blood toxicity….sixty-five percent," Mina reported quietly. "Andy, I'm so sorry…"

I would've replied with something stupidly cocky if it hadn't been for Rhodey embracing me tightly. I was stunned for a few long seconds before I hugged back, squeezing my eyes shut and digging my fingers into the plates of the Mark II – his armor, now, if Mina had overridden the personalization controls properly. Eventually, I was flooded with panic and that same throbbing pain that had shot through me before I'd hit Tony.

"I – I need to get out of here…" I stated, slowly getting to my feet and trying to move for the garage ramp even though I was still half-in my suit. "I'm in for it if he finds me still here…."

"Andy, Andy, calm down," Rhodey soothed me, following me and gently taking my arm. "He's _definitely_ gonna wanna see you. Me, not so much."

"He's never going to forgive me for this," I stammered, looking past Rhodey to Tony's prone figure on the sofa. I didn't know if he was going to be himself or the mimicry when he woke up…and that scared me. "I - don't know who that was…but that wasn't Tony. And…and I can't stay, I _can't_…"

"Hey," Rhodey snapped gently, making me look him in the eyes. "You aint goin' _anywhere_ with the shape you're in."

"I can make it," I stammered "I – I've got my bike, and I'll just…go. Forget this ever happened…try to figure this out before the palladium gets me."

"Andy, he still needs you," Rhodey pressed, and I suddenly felt like I was slapped in the face. _My promise_. "Even if he doesn't act like it, I bet he does."

I squeezed my eyes shut. Of course Tony needed me, because I was the sane half of us two – especially in Pepper's absence – and…I had _promised_. I had sworn to Tony, when he was recovering from our battle with Stane, that I'd never, ever leave him again, not even if he wanted me gone. Of course it came back to bite my conscience. I sighed a little before forcing my eyes open.

"If…if you're sure, James," I replied, my voice surprisingly quiet and I didn't know _why_ I called him by first name instead of his nickname. "Just…if you hear explosions, out there at Edwards…figure I'm winning."

I tried for a weak laugh, but it only descended into more sobs as I realized that I never, _ever_ wanted to fight Tony again. Not even yelling at him, though he sometimes deserved it. But I was all too grateful for another hug from Rhodes, and I pressed my cheek against the silver plates until I was sure it was going to leave a mark.

"Just remember it's on loan," I managed to squeeze out as Rhodey gently eased his grip on me. "And don't let Hammer anywhere _near_ it. Maybe Tony deserves getting walked all over by the slimy moron, but…not after this."

"I'll try," Rhodey swore, "though if my superiors swipe it, the most I can do is protest. Vehemently."

I smiled at him, and I felt at least somewhat comforted by the smile he offered back at me. I decided to work my way out of the lower torso of my armor before sighing a little.

"I'm gonna try and…and clean this mess up," I said. "See you later…right?"

"Damn straight," Rhodey answered before the faceplate locked into place. "And, just for the record? Dinner…was great."

"…it was," I replied, feeling my cheeks turning red before he turned and soared out of the garage with a roar. I watched him go before sparing one glance at the sofa, then started off for the stairs back upstairs.

"Mina, get me something happy. Upbeat. No more angry stuff for now."

"How about…oh!"

I waited, and I couldn't help but smile as _Move Along_ started playing. It was…perfect. I pushed the door open and rolled up my sleeves; it was time to move out the debris and get to rebuilding.


	10. Chapter 10

The sun was shining into the house a long, long time later. Thankfully, the coffee machine hadn't been destroyed by last night's combat, so I sat on a pile of concrete, rebar, and drywall that I'd managed to shove out of the kitchen and into the living room while I sipped my morning dose of caffeine. Gone was my nice outfit of the night before, comfortably attired in sweatpants and fresh sports bra. I saw that the lines of poisoning – I figured – were starting to trace their way up my neck, and I decided my best course of action for now was to ignore them. I had a few days at least before it all caught up with me.

The physical exertion had gotten some of my negative energy out, though I strained my healing hand fairly badly when shoving some rubble out of the gym, so I had it wrapped tightly in gauze and athletic tape. My hair, which needed a cut soon, was tied back into an effective ponytail that hid how squashed and rumpled the black tangles were. I sighed as I slurped at my mug, glad that I was mostly back to myself after that emotional roller coaster of Tony's birthday party. What a nightmare.

"Miss Andy?"

"Mornin', Jarvis; hope Mina got you back and ordered properly?" I greeted the house's main AI as I finished off my coffee and set my mug aside before starting back for the gym. "Don't need me to make sure your codes weren't overridden anywhere by some drunk floozy?"

"Not at all, but thank you for the offer," Jarvis replied, and I could definitely make out the note of relief in his voice. "If you are not otherwise engaged, Mister Stark has requested he see you. Soon."

"How _soon_ are we talking?" I asked, pausing from rinsing out my emptied coffee mug in the ruined waterfall. Jarvis paused for a moment, as if checking with Tony. So he was awake, then.

"I do believe he insists upon this very moment," Jarvis finally answered, and I sighed as I set my mug aside, sitting down on the stairs leading up. If I went down there and found the monster that was pretending to be Tony, I didn't know what I would do. But if it was _Tony_…

"All right," I eventually surrendered, "I'm coming down there."

I rubbed my hands over my face before I got to my feet and headed down into the garage, pausing at the door to glance inside. Dummy was already near the sofa, obviously delivering Tony something to help him up and at it, and, just for a few seconds, I just wanted to stand there, staring inside, never going in and facing Tony. Maybe it was out of spite, or out of self-preservation, but the feeling passed before I pressed my fingertips against Mina's new coded screen, and she read my scan before unlocking the door. I pushed it open, and, within a few moments, Tony was sitting up and looking at me almost helplessly.

"Andy…I'm so _sorry_," he began, voice shaking. "What happened…God, you're right, I'm a _jerk_, and I was even doing it to you….I have to be the most awful big brother there ever was, I don't know how you'd ever forgive me…"

It went on for a bit, with my hands stuffed into the pockets of my sweatpants and my gaze aimed directly at the floor. Never before had I ever heard Tony apologize before, not to me, not to anyone. Usually, other people apologized for him, so I don't know why I wasn't able to at least acknowledge it. Maybe because, in a way, I had Tony back. I _knew_ my Tony would apologize – or try to – so that he could make things up to me. Soon, though, Tony was on his feet, and he managed to walk over towards me and gently grasp my forearms.

"Look, if you wanna move out, I don't blame you," Tony sighed, "or if you never wanted to see my sorry face again. But…I hope you don't. I'll make it better. I _swear_."

"I'm not going to leave," I answered, barely managing to keep my voice steady. "And...'m sorry for me and Rhodes beating you up last night."

"I deserved it," Tony grumbled in reply.

"Well, I shouldn't have thrown the triple."

"…probably not…you might've blown out the reactor, doing that…"

"Yeah, I did," I admitted, tapping at my reactor a little. "Back to the old reliable. It's lucky, though. I beat Stane with this reactor."

"Maybe…maybe it'll hold a little longer."

"It'd damn well better. Otherwise I'm back to mark zero."

Tony processed that for a moment before his grip on my arms tightened a little. He knew I meant the car battery, and I wrapped my arms around him to hug tightly. I didn't care that this might end up being Tony's last day on the whole earth, but I did care that he went down as himself, not the spoiled jerkwad I'd knocked out last night. Tony hugged back, kissing the top of my head firmly before he rested his cheek there, rubbing my back.

"Don't go crazy again," I breathed quietly once I felt the tears starting to come down again. Tony squeezed me a little tighter at that.

"I don't want to."

"You'd better not. 'Cause…'cause that wasn't my brother. I didn't like whoever that was."

"I didn't like him, either," Tony murmured, rocking me a little, just holding me close. I squeezed my eyes shut, my fingers holding tight to the back of his shirt. Eventually, he kissed my head again, and I glanced up at him so I could rub my eyes.

"I'm gonna do better," Tony informed me. "I promise."

"Good. And don't take any drugs or whatever it was you were on yesterday."

Tony's face blanched, just for a moment. Oh, _great_.

"Erm…Dummy already brought me one…?"

The robot in question hooted disagreeably, and I managed to give poor Dummy a small smile. I didn't blame him/it for it, but I did toss Tony a warning look.

"Then don't take anymore," I informed him firmly. "I'd rather have my brother full speed without drugs than low speed with."

Tony nodded and gave me another hug. I immediately thought of the comment Mina would have made: _and this is why you don't mix martinis, champagne, and anti-depressants_. I decided not to voice it, though, and instead mussed at Tony's hair before pecking his forehead.

"Y'know, I never thought I'd ever be coming to your rescue, well, _ever_…"

"At least you didn't leave me to it."

"…I promised," I admitted to him. "I promised you I'd never leave, after Stane nearly killed you."

"You _did_?" Tony asked, looking at me in surprise. I managed a half-smirk and nodded, and he grinned at me. "See, this's why you're the best sister in the world."

"Then let the best sister in the world inform you we better get the house cleaned up," I warned him, "or Pepper won't come to visit ever again." I could recall the look of terror on her face, when Mina had flashed her location at me last night. She hadn't like last night's Tony, either.

"Oh, no, Pepper," Tony groaned, obviously realizing just how far this mess was reaching. "She quit, didn't she? She _always_ quits whenever I screw up, it's like this constant cycle of divorce and re-marriage with us…I mean, I can always hire her again, but…oh…"

"Yeah, _oh_," I added in the blank space. "She's not your assistant anymore, genius. Though I don't think she's taking to her new job."

"Then she'd better get used to it," Tony sighed, massaging his forehead. Ah, so he wasn't as immune to hangover-headaches as he'd been acting. "Now, just gimme something to do before I lose it again."

"How about core replacement?" I asked quietly. "Maybe us and Vanko were on the right track, but the only outstanding problem is palladium."

"Yeah, get me a screwdriver….get right on it…"

I had to swallow back a few giggles before helping a suddenly-unsteady Tony back to the sofa as Mina's likely comment came into my head again, and I helped him lay back down and propped up by a stack of squishy pillows.

"_You_ sleep off the hangover, and I'll get a head start, how's that for ya?"

"Okay….just don't take all the credit…otherwise I'm gonna be jealous…"

Tony's statement faded into an incoherent mumble as he fell asleep, and I gave his hair one last tousle before I settled at his desk. I didn't dare think about how high up his palladium scars were, and I rubbed uncomfortably at the back of my neck before I checked my own reading via Jarvis. Just overnight, my readings had shot into the high seventies. Well, if Tony ended up dying today, I wouldn't survive much longer than him. I pushed away the morbid thoughts and had Jarvis get to projecting possibilities through the periodic table – avoiding the stuff that was totally unlikely to work, like the noble gases and hydrogen – and I settled in as my playlist came on quietly over the speakers, keeping to quieter songs for Tony's sake.

At least, until Jarvis announced that we had a certain unwelcome visitor breaching the perimeter. I cursed to myself as I straightened up, pleading quietly that he wouldn't make it through the security like last time, but, as if by magic, Director Nick Fury of the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement, and Logistics Division (more commonly known as SHIELD) came striding down the ramp into the garage. He was in the exact same outfit he'd been in the first time we'd met him six months ago in his first attempt to recruit me and Tony for his Avenger Initiative. It hadn't worked well, and I had no desire of ever seeing Fury again.

"Long time, no see, Fury," I commented dryly by way of greeting. "If this's about the boys' club you're building, I'm still not interested."

"Even if you're invited?" Fury asked with a small grin, and I replied with a glare. He noticed I wasn't in a mood for pleasantries, and instead glanced around to find Tony. If I could've gone like I had last night on anybody else at the moment, it would've been on Fury as he whistled sharply when he got a look at Tony. "And what happened to him?"

"Over-celebrated his birthday in a bad way last night," I answered coolly, "so I had to smack sense into him, and now he's recovering. Not to mention I don't care if I'm invited. Now, niceties aside, what the hell do you want?"

"You two, getting back to rights," Fury persisted as he glanced over Tony, then looking at me. No, I still didn't have the decency to get a shirt on, so my own "tattoo" was very visible. "You're sure he's not dead?"

Tony answered for me by groaning pitifully and rolling over to cram a pillow around his head. I hid a smirk and kept my gaze cold and level at Fury.

"It's the usual hangover head pain," I griped. "He's fine. Now answer the question, Fury, before I set my AI attack dog on you."

"You two've gotta reputation to uphold," Fury began after he decided to leave Tony alone for now. "Maybe you didn't see today's paper?"

He wandered up to the desk and extricated the morning edition of the _LA Times_ for me to see, smacking it down within easy view. Right there on the front page was a picture of Tony partying last night, with a few inset pictures of the wringer Rhodey and I had put him through to get him to stop. I frowned slightly as I took in the – no pun intended – stark headline of _Tony Stark at Rock Bottom? – Late Night Party Becomes Brutal Reality Check_. I kept my gaze on the paper as Fury added, "They don't like it when their poster children have problems."

"Well, that's Tony," I noted dryly. "Besides, he's recovering from his worst hangover in recent history, and I'm having to manage the task of finding a replacement for the palladium cores before either of us die."

"Now, last _I'd_ heard," Fury replied, putting on a falsely-conversational tone, "your brother tried just about everything."

"Aha! That's the key; _just about_. So either there's one he hasn't tried, or there's something else out there."

I'll be damned if Fury didn't come _that_ close to giving me a smile.

"Clever."

"Comes from reading Doyle obsessively; you end up learning stuff. So, obviously, all's in order."

"Not unless you know where you're looking."

I leveled Fury a long look, frowning slightly. Oh, great. He was trying his hand at bribery: here's the key that'll save you, now you guys owe me. _Lovely_. I wasn't surprised as a couple of SHIELD suits came in, toting a large gray case that they set in front of the desk. I levered myself up to look over the box, and I frowned at the sight of three words and one initial that had the capability of ruining the rest of my life.

_Property of H. Stark_.

"…huh," was all I could get myself to say. Remember what I said earlier about me re-developing my intense dislike of my father? Well, it was kicking in at full power as I leaned back, and Fury fixed his gaze on me.

"You don't have to worry; it's not going to blow up in your face," he remarked, entirely deadpan. It would've been funny if it'd been someone other than Fury saying it.

"I already have the remains of one explosion in my chest, thank you," I retorted sharply, but I refused to get a closer look at the box. _Dad's_ box. Fury pursed his lips a little before he started heading back the way he'd come.

"You're gonna have to look sometime," he noted as he suddenly made a detour towards Tony. "After all, someone's gotta make reactors."

"Hey, what the hell you think –"

"In a second," Fury retorted sharply as he removed something from his coat and swiftly pressed it into Tony's neck. Tony himself sat up, swearing violently, rubbing at his neck before fixing a glare on Fury.

"What'd you stick him with?" I asked sharply, especially as I watched most of Tony's scarring vanish. Oh, _that_ would be useful…

"Lithium dioxide," Fury replied, and I frowned immediately; the liar. You couldn't stick two oxygen atoms to one lithium atom, and it wouldn't be _called_ lithium dioxide in any case. "It's gonna take the edge off."

"And make me wanna beat the crap out of you, Fury," Tony retorted, actually sounding more alive than I'd heard him for awhile. "How'd you get into my house? Again?"

"I'm putting Mina on outside security duty next time," I grumbled. Tony nodded in agreement, and it was with that reception that Nick Fury left us the box with Dad's name on it, taking his suits with him while I installed Mina onto running much, much tighter security for the perimeter so nobody could bother us. Tony rubbed at his neck, muttering curses after Fury as he sat up, then got to his feet to get something to drink. That was about when he noticed the box.

"Since when does Fury bring me birthday presents?" he asked aloud before he spotted the label. Once he did, he amended, "Never mind."

"Something about stuff in there helping us solve the reactor issue," I informed him without looking at the box. "Personally, I don't trust anything of Dad's, so if you're looking, go ahead."

"Suit yourself," Tony replied, and I heard him undo the latches before lifting the box's lid. I watched Jarvis continue running the possibilities – there were a _lot_ – before I heard Tony make some sort of curious noise as he poked around in the box. That finally piqued my curiosity, and I slid down from the desk to look inside with him.

"What is it?" I asked as I started looking over what I could immediately see: newspaper clippings, film reels, notebooks, and a rolled-up blueprint. I started reaching for the blueprint and noticed with a faint chill the typed names of Anton Vanko and Howard Stark; so this was a print of the original reactor that I'd overloaded six months ago. Oh, that was nice.

"Like a giant time capsule or something," Tony noted as he pulled out the clippings, both of which were dated in the Sixties, just before Tony was born. One declared that a Soviet physicist had defected to the United States; the other proclaimed the same physicist had been deported to Russia. I _knew_ it was Anton Vanko without even looking, and I took up the notebooks while Tony picked out the film cases.

The contents of the first notebook I flipped open was meticulously filled with data and equations and drawings. I paused as I flicked through, and glanced at the reactor blueprint. Hello.

"It's…it's everything needed to build an arc-reactor," I breathed as I closed the notebook, and Tony glanced at me, brows furrowed.

"What, like Dad knew we'd need it?"

"Creepy."

"No kidding. Useful, though."

He grabbed up his own notebook to pore over, while I pulled out the film cases. I didn't see any titles until I got to the one at the bottom of the small stack. This was a few years younger than the others, and, in Dad's semi-legible scrawl read _Andrea_. I stared at it for awhile before tossing it back inside the box and getting to my feet. I knew there was a projector around here somewhere…

When I _did_ find that heavy projector, I dragged it somewhere we could watch, and Tony even set aside the notebook he was looking at so he could watch with me, though I'd swear I saw him looking at a film case out of the box earlier. I carefully popped open one of the first cases and strung on the film, while Tony managed to get a projector screen erected and in place. Soon, we were settled into a couple of chairs to watch what was stored here for us to see.

It started with Dad, and as he stood and started speaking to the camera, I realized this was the welcoming movie that had been filmed for the '74 Expo. And when he stopped to search for a word, I realized these were failed attempts, candid moments. None of them made me feel any different about Dad; if anything, he was acting a little like Tony, with the drinking, with the attempts to crack bad jokes. It got me uncomfortable. But at one point, where Dad was standing near the Expo model, I saw, to my eternal delight, a tiny, three-year-old girl, hair in a ponytail as she reached out to grab a piece of the model.

"I remember this," I breathed as I watched the girl – me – manage to lift one of the pavilion models off the surface. "I was bored, hiding on the set…and I tried to make him laugh…"

"Worked for me," Tony noted with an audible grin, but my own faint smile vanished as my memory proved true. Dad turned to the younger version of me and snapped at me to put the model back. I watched myself do so, large dark eyes wide with shame before one of the techs picked me up and carried me offstage.

"There's the Dad I knew," I breathed faintly, ears in my eyes. I was glad I'd gotten rid of his letter now. He'd just written it to decide to be fair, not to make me feel better. Tony actually got up and made me scoot over in my chair so he could sit next to me and hug me tight. That felt nice, and I was more than happy to sit there in Tony's arms until I heard Dad's recorded voice say his name. Of course I felt useless as usual as he talked about the company, how he'd built it for Tony…and the hardest blow came at the very end.

When he declared Tony to be his greatest creation.

The reel ended with a rattling sound, and I got out of the chair, starting to head for the desk to grab a few notes I'd taken earlier. Tony turned to look at me, but I didn't look back as I fought down the pain and anger that had always eaten at me.

"Looks like he's all set for you to solve this," I spat carefully, "just like usual."

"That wasn't the last reel," Tony added, and I _knew_ he meant the one with my name on it. I turned to look at him, and I saw that he was looking at me with almost an equal amount of shock and pain; he hadn't wanted to be Dad's chosen one. The thing was, he always had been.

"I don't plan on watching the other one," I retorted. I knew what would be on the other reel: more pain, more putdowns and ignoring. Nothing like what Dad had left for Tony to see and know. I started for the door upstairs, and Tony's voice called out one more time.

"Can I, then?"

"Whatever," I replied before pushing the door open and heading upstairs to my room. When I crashed into my chair, the tears finally came, and I put my head in my hands. He wanted Tony to be his superstar. Like always. Fine. I could live with that. Maybe I could go ahead and resign from my nominal co-CEO-ship, return all the money Dad had supposedly left for me. He obviously hadn't wanted to really give any of it to me. It was all for Tony.

When my eyes finally dried, I checked my toxicity reading.

Eighty-eight percent. And rising still.


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N**: A side note for this particular chapter: ANDY IS NOT DEAD. Okay? Okay.

* * *

My day was pretty much officially ruined by that reading. From the looks of things, I would die, today, if Tony didn't somehow magically solve Dad's riddle and make a new core and reactor and get it into me within the next twelve hours or so. I leaned back in my chair and pulled out the mirror attached to my desk, discovering pretty quick I didn't even need the light on it to see that the purple lines were reaching up my neck, and some longer ones were already working over my jaw. Just looking at myself made me feel sick, and I pushed the mirror back before I put my hands over my eyes, wishing I could get fresh tears to start coming down.

"Andy!" Tony's voice suddenly barked over the intercom. I nearly fell out of my chair, and I realized how breathless and ill I _felt_ as I tried to push my chair over to the com console. Usually, I could do it in one push; it took me _five_ to get over there. I knew I was starting to go down.

"What…?" I managed to ask without sounding too tired from that minimal piece of exercise. If he noticed, Tony didn't even sound it.

"You need to get down here; this's somethin' you gotta see for yourself."

For two seconds the hope of a miracle shone through, but my typical pessimistic realism came in to squelch it. It had to be the film reel Dad left for me. But I knew Tony wasn't going to let it go, so I managed to push myself to my feet and started back down the two flights of stairs to the garage. It didn't help that my depth perception ended up partially out of whack, and I nearly fell down both sets. I was upright once I got to the door into the garage, and when Tony saw me, he ran right over to grab my hand and a shoulder to keep me upright.

"Really don't feel good," I mumbled, and I felt Tony squeeze my hand tightly as he got me settled in a chair.

"Don't know why he didn't give you a shot," Tony grumbled darkly, and I waved him off. I could kick Fury's backside myself once I got better. Or I'd haunt him for the rest of his days if I didn't.

"Save it," I retorted tiredly as I sank into the chair. My vision was already a little hazy, and I was of half a mind to dig out the Mobile in my pocket and make one final test. "What's up?"

"Andy, I know you don't want to, but you _have_ to see this reel, okay?" Tony begged, and my already down mood spiraled even lower.

"No," I refused immediately. "He's disproven the letter, and I might as well not give a damn anymore…"

"Hey, don't _say_ that," Tony urged me, crouching down in front of me. I tried to focus my gaze on him, but I could barely resolve his face, and he wasn't even a foot away from me. "C'mon, watch it with me."

"All right," I sighed, even though I could barely even see the screen. "I know I'm not gonna like what I hear, though…"

"Wouldn't be so sure if I were you," Tony quipped, but his voice sounded far away as he moved off to start the film over from the beginning. I felt myself starting to drift, and I had to shake myself a couple times to try and stay awake. It didn't help that I felt my face itching, and I was feeling more and more out of breath before the rattling of the film projector jolted me back to temporary life.

I heard Dad's voice starting to speak, I heard him saying my name, but everything started fading right then and there. It was a struggled to try and pull the Mobile loose, even as I muzzily heard Dad's voice, Tony's voice, and the rattle of the projector. I barely managed to work it onto my palm and get it scanning before my head swam entirely, and I nearly slumped out of my chair.

The world was spinning when I managed to force my eyes open one more time. Tony was leaning over me, eyes wide and distraught, holding my shoulders and shaking me. I think he might've been calling my name, but I somehow managed to resurrect one last bit of mobility to raise the Mobile, so we could both see the reading.

Ninety-nine percent. That was as good as dead.

I passed out again after that. Consciousness faded in and out, hearing the rattle of a gurney, the rumble of a helicopter as unfamiliar voices yelled over me. I tried calling for Tony, to ask him what was going on, but I was too weak, too tired, to get the words out. At one point I looked up and saw a dingy gray ceiling above me, with lights flashing by over head. I could feel an oxygen mask over my face, and a weight in my chest that had to be a car-battery electromagnet.

One week to live. If the palladium didn't kill me first.

The world faded out one more time, and for a long, long time I think I laid there, unable to break through the darkness around me. I was too ill to even wake up.

But then there was a flash of light, and I opened my eyes to find a sun-streaked white ceiling, with dark oak posts stretching above me. I took a few moments to process that before I slowly pushed myself upright, looking around at the walls to find my old music posters, obscure bands and images of guitars. Vinyl records were strewn over the floor, and I glanced over the edge of the bed to spot a small stack of white paper, covered in pencil sketches, partly obscured by a pile of record sheaths. My eyes widened as I got to my feet, realizing where I was. This was my old room, in Long Island, in the house where I had grown up with Tony.

I took a moment to look myself over. I was dressed in the same clothes I had worn the day I had left for MIT: white t-shirt with an AC/DC logo emblazoned across the front, short-sleeved black jacket, blue jeans, and thick-soled black boots. I curiously poked my sternum, and was at once terrified and relieved to not feel a reactor there.

"Some afterlife this is," I muttered to myself before carefully stepping around my records towards the door that took me out onto the long landing that also led to Tony's bedroom and Mom's rooms. I ventured past the door to Tony's room and started creeping downstairs. I subconsciously remembered where certain steps creaked, and I managed to get down to the foyer without making a sound. But when I turned to check inside the family room, my heart literally could have stopped dead.

Sitting in his usual armchair next to the antique fireplace, reading his morning newspaper, was none other than Howard Stark. He was already dressed for a day at the office, in his gray suit and dark blue tie, just like I remembered. His graying brown hair was neatly combed, his mustache straight and trimmed, and I nearly turned and bolted as he looked up from his paper with clear blue eyes and saw me.

I was about halfway up the stairs when I heard him call my name. I refused to move, to turn and go face him, until I made out the paper rustling as he got up and walked towards the door that led to the family room.

"Come here, Andrea," he said quietly, so quietly I barely heard him. But even though my every thought rebelled at the idea of doing anything Dad wanted I turned and headed back downstairs, even as he retreated back to his chair. I stopped at the doorway, hands rammed into my pockets, and a sullen scowl on my face. This was my usual expression when facing Dad during the two years he and I had lived under the same roof.

"What," I snarked at him. Dad hadn't picked up the paper again yet, and I avoided meeting his gaze, as usual, when he looked at me again.

"You're not going to come closer?" Dad asked, voice calm, even, like it usually was whenever he deigned to speak to me. I narrowed my gaze slightly, though I stayed focused on the knot in his tie.

"Why should I?"

"I wouldn't mind not feeling like I'm speaking to a stranger in my own home," he replied, motioning to a leather ottoman he sometimes had coffee or a light breakfast balanced on. My scowl darkened as I crossed the room and sat, my back halfway to him so we didn't face each other. Just the way he liked it.

Dad didn't say anything for a long time, and I immediately knew he was looking me over, evaluating me, measuring me up to Tony. And I knew, just like every single time before, I would fail. He wouldn't say a thing to me, and I could get up and figure out why I was suddenly back in New York and why Dad was suddenly alive.

But he didn't stay silent.

"The scowl doesn't suit you," Dad commented quietly, and I scoffed faintly.

"Excuse me if I don't fulfill expectations," I retorted sharply.

"You always have."

I fought down the rush of surprise that slammed through me at that. What the hell did he mean, _you always have_? He couldn't mean whatever silent bar he had held over my head, always keeping it out of reach no matter how hard I struggled. No. He couldn't mean that.

"Sure I have, _Dad_," I spat, tempted to get up and walk out anyway, but I was startled as he suddenly touched my shoulder.

"You _have_, Andy," he repeated, and I scowled before wrenching my shoulder loose. No; this wasn't right. The reel he had left for Tony, the lying letter Tony had found six months ago…all pointed that he had believed in, trusted, Tony more than he had ever trusted me. Not to mention he _never_ called me Andy.

"Really, Dad?" I retorted, pacing away from him, keeping my back turned. "Even though you _never_ said that _maybe_ I was as good as Tony, _maybe_ paid me a single _scrap_ of attention for _once_ on my life!"

"And I'm sorry I did," Dad pressed suddenly, and I shook inside. He couldn't mean it. "I've never been a good father, neither to you or Tony, and you most of all."

"Whatever, Dad," I snarled weakly, crossing my arms over my chest. "You say it, but I sure as hell don't believe it."

"And I wish you would," he pleaded, and I heard him get to his feet. "Andy, you're _not_ dead, because your brother is trying to use what I left you both to save _you_."

It was too much. I didn't know why he was saying one thing here, when earlier, he hadn't acknowledged me at all. Why was he lying all over again? And I couldn't be alive; the last reading had been ninety-nine. I was _dead_.

"You're wrong," I sobbed weakly as I sank onto the soft, thick carpet, digging my fingers into the pile. "I'm _dead_….the reactor killed me…"

I fought down a shudder as Dad was suddenly there next to me, hands on my forearms, holding me tightly. That was _wrong_.

"No, you're not," he murmured over my head, and I suddenly realized what he was about to do. He was going to try and reassure me the same way Tony would: by kissing my head. I was ready to lean out of the way as his voice drew closer, adding, "My Andy wouldn't give up so easy."

"I'm _not_ your Andy," I spat as I leaned away, and I barely felt his nose touch my head as he missed. "I'm Tony's, and I'm Mom's. _Never_ yours."

"…I'd like you to be mine," Dad sighed. Now I had a chance to unleash all the pain he'd inflicted on me, all the silence and pretending I wasn't there, didn't exist. Tears were starting to run down my cheeks as I pulled myself out of his grip, forcing myself to my feet and starting for the door. This time, I turned, and I saw his back to me, as if he was stunned that I had torn away from him.

"You're not getting me," I spat. "You're a _liar_."

"Andy…Andy, I'm _sorry_…"

I tried not to register how much like Tony he suddenly sounded as I bolted through the door, up the stairs, and into my room, slamming the door behind me before I fell onto my bed and sobbed.

I was dead. And I was trapped with the spirit of my father.


	12. Chapter 12

I don't know how long I stayed in my former room, face buried into my pillow and trying to wake up from this nightmare. But it wasn't. I was trapped, dead, maybe, and my hell was being here, in Long Island, never able to leave for school and under the rule of my father. And I _hated_ it.

But sometimes you just can't stay put, and the lack of any higher technology than my vinyl records and their player really bothered me. So I got to my feet and decided to explore. I made another check to see if the reactor was still missing – it was – before I slipped out of my room again. I headed towards the stairs, but stopped outside the door to Tony's room, gently pushing it open. Inside, it looked exactly like it had all that time ago: general disorganization, posters of fast cars clumsily tacked to the walls, tools and paper and parts scattered over his two desks. I sighed, because his absence only solidified my belief that I was dead, but I froze when I heard soft, distantly familiar footsteps rising up the stairs. I stuck my head out of the door, and my eyes widened at who was coming up the stairs.

She was willowy and graceful, long dark hair pulled out of her face to reveal the glowing smile there. She was dressed for staying home, slippers and an indoor dress under her light silk robe….just like I remembered her. Her dark eyes widened happily, and my heart soared all the way to my mouth as Maria Stark held her arms out to me.

"There you are….!"

"Mom….?" I choked out before running to her, throwing my arms around her waist and hugging tightly. I was only a little taller than she was, but she still held me close, rubbing my back as I cried joyful tears. If I really was dead, then….then maybe it would be okay. Mom was here, and that automatically made everything better.

"I was just about to come find you," Mom sighed into my hair, and I sniffled weakly as I tightened my grip, just a little.

"Missed you, Mom," I choked out. "Wish you hadn't gone…"

"I'm here now," she assured me gently, and I was more than happy let my mother hold me tightly for the first time since I was five years old. After awhile, though, I remembered why I had to be seeing her, and I started crying again, and in the unhappy sense.

"Mom…I'm dying, Mom…"

"Oh, sweetheart," Mom sighed, even as we sank onto the floor outside Tony's room, "you're going to be fine. There's so many people who love you…"

"But the palladium killed me," I insisted despairingly. "Mom…make it stop, Mom, I don't wanna die…"

That got me another hug, and I felt the distinct sense of being shielded as Mom coaxed me back on my feet. We headed downstairs, and Mom starting making me some coffee while I sank miserably – and blindly – into a chair at the dining room table.

"I'm _dead_," I mumbled to myself before putting my head onto the cool wood, but I paused from any further mutterings when I realized that the gray shape at the other side of the table was _not_ the wall. I slowly raised my head as Mom returned, rubbing my back and setting the mug in easy reach on the table, and I felt sick again when I saw Dad sitting there, two manila envelopes at either elbow. I refused to notice the faint smile on his face as I grabbed my mug and dragged it into my hands, letting the ethereal warmth seep into my hands.

"Hi again, Andy," Dad began, voice strangely warm and…_loving_. I struggled not to let it reach me.

"Don't call me that," I snapped firmly, eyes digging through his chest. "You're not _allowed_ to call me that. I was _always_ Andrea."

Hence why I hated hearing my full name. I could feel Dad giving me a quizzical look.

"But everyone else calls you Andy."

"Not Justin Hammer," I griped, "and not you."

I leaned back and crossed my arms, directing my gaze through one of the windows. Dad was quiet for a few moments before he tried again with, "All right, _Andrea_. Hi, _Andrea_."

"What do you want?" I snapped bitterly. I already had an idea, from our earlier encounter, but I wasn't in the generous mood that I tried for with Tony. Tony would always get new chances from me, but not Howard Stark.

"Just to do something I…I never did enough of," he sighed. "Talk to you."

"Oh, so I do still get to deal with the usual stuff when I'm on by deathbed," I shot off, and I didn't regret it. "_Thanks_, Dad, _ever_ so much."

"Give him a chance, honey," Mom asked quietly, and I turned to her, tears stinging my eyes. Out of my whole family, she had always understood the pain I went through.

"He never gave me one."

"I'm sorry I didn't," Dad murmured, and I felt a muscle in my jaw twitch.

"So why should I give you something you never gave me?"

"So I can make up for it."

"And you're able to do that when you're dead, oh, this's gonna be good…"

"Ten minutes, Andrea," Dad insisted, and right then my stomach clenched to hear Tony in his voice. "Just ten minutes."

"Five," I stubbornly replied. Dad sighed and nodded in agreement, and I turned towards him, though I didn't look him in the face. He didn't deserve such familiarity from me.

"I know I didn't show you and Tony a lot of affection, Andrea," Dad began, "and especially you. I just wish I had, because you're such a smart girl. I should have told you that. How lucky can one man be, to get two geniuses for children?"

I was frowning deeply by this point. This was all the same hash that I had read in his letter to me, and I wasn't buying it. Dad spread his hands almost helplessly, and he seemed to struggle to find words that would reach me. The thing was, he'd never even tried before, and I guess I drew some kind of sadistic pleasure out of it before he suddenly found his voice.

"Andy…you're a special girl," Dad pleaded quietly. "You're smart….but it's not the same smarts as your brother. I never expected it to be; he was my engineer, and you were my programmer. There's a _difference._ Besides, how did you get into MIT if you weren't so unique, so special?"

"Without _you_," I bit back, even though I felt my heart wrenching around in my chest. _It couldn't be true_. "_I_ hacked MIT, just to get away from _you_."

"…I'm sorry I drove you to that."

"Sure, Dad. _Sure_."

It was silent again for awhile, and even though I was trying to be angry and hurt, like I'd always been when it came to Dad…I couldn't. Hearing him call me _special_, _unique_…it eased the pain he'd put on me, just a little. I was actually starting to wonder if the letter was at least partially true. Dad, meanwhile, picked up one of the envelopes and pulled out some papers from it.

"…can I show you something?" he asked.

"…fine," I forced myself to spit out, and he passed a piece of heavy white paper across the table towards me. I recognized the crayon scribbles long before I said anything, just staring at the blocky drawing. I had been three years old, full of Expo-inspired fervor, and this had been the first thing I had ever designed: an old-school computer, with advanced capabilities to access other networks and collect data. Of course, it wasn't very efficient, now that I looked at it, but I still had to smile faintly when I saw the proud crayon signature of _A.J. Stark_ in the bottom corner.

"…my computer," I eventually murmured. "First thing I ever designed."

"And you know somethin'?" Dad asked as he unfolded the second piece, revealing a blueprint as he laid it flat and gently pushed it to me. "It _worked_."

I froze, eyes wide as I leaned forward, pulling the print closer. Sure enough, there was my computer, laid out in perfect detail, all my notes taken into consideration. Dad's name was actually _not_ in the "project designer" box. Instead….the printed name read _Andrea J. Stark_. I dazedly looked at the project title, and my heart dug into my throat as I read it aloud, voice shaking.

"Advanced…Network…Detection…Reconnaissance…and Evasion….Artificial."

_ANDREA_.

"I should have told you," Dad murmured as my gaze stayed glued to the blueprint. "I wish I had, but by the time ANDREA was operational, you were already off to college and wouldn't speak to me."

My mind spun, remembering the day I had skipped into his office and tried to show him. All the days after when I tried the same thing, and the same result. My fist clenched slightly, wrinkling the schematic faintly.

"You _never_ looked at them," I struggled to say with as much bitter anger as I could. "Not this, not any of the other designs…_never_! How do you expect me to believe this?"

Dad's only reply was opening up the other, fatter envelope, and I gaped as he spilled out every last drawing I had ever given him. I snatched at a couple of them, noticing that alongside my specifications were notes of Dad's, tiny written compliments in the corners…and at the bottom of every single one, untouched, was my scrawling signature. I was near tears as I realized he…_had_ looked. And he'd seen my potential.

_You always have_.

"…my little tech designer," Dad sighed, but I slowly, uncertainly, lifted my gaze to look at him for the first time in a long time. His bright eyes were gleaming, and his faint smile hinted at the pride in his voice. Those tears were stinging my eyes, and I had to choke back sobs as Dad finished with, "I'm sorry I ever made you hate me."

My chest hitched with the sobs I was trying to control.

"Dad…Dad, I'm sorry…" I whimpered before I jumped out of my chair and got around the table to hug him tightly. Dad just wrapped his arms around me, and fir the first time in my life, my own father embraced me, pressing his cheek against my head.

"It's okay, sweetheart," he told me softly. "I don't blame you."

And he kissed the top of my head with the same firmness and love that Tony did. I just clung tightly onto him, even as Mom joined in, and I sobbed as the scars of my childhood vanished.

I had been loved all along.


	13. Chapter 13

**MINA**

I had never been more exhausted in my lifespan. In the three days since Andy's collapse, Tony had been working practically nonstop to solve the mystery Howard had left for him so as to save his little sister, as well as himself. Of course, _when_ he'd found the new element as proposed by Howard, I assigned myself to helping him make it.

It wasn't easy until Tony finally agreed to give me a wireless download access into the Trinity suit, along with a spare palladium reactor, so I could help physically. That was the exciting part, when I activated the suit's systems and _moved_, on my own. It was almost as good as having my own body, and I'd given Tony a good reason to laugh when I suddenly declared, "I'm a real girl!"

In the early morning of the third day, we were putting the final touches on the particle accelerator that would help create the new element that would ensure Tony's and Andy's lives. I was pushing one last coil up so Tony could make it level when I sighed faintly.

"…is she going to be okay, do you think?" I asked. "I mean…she's been unconscious…."

"She'll make it," Tony insisted as he checked the coils and nodding in satisfaction. "Andy's been through worse on account of me, trust me. If she can survive handling me on my worst days, she can get through anything."

"I hope you're right," I replied softly, looking down at the mechanical hands I was currently using for my own. Idly, I thought about what Andy and I did together in this suit, to become Trinity; three parts in one. Andy was the heart, giving purpose; I was the brains, who looked ahead and thought of what could happen. The suit itself reacted to our combined will…and it was what held us together. What happened if one part was lost? I didn't want to think about it. It was the sort of question I'd been thinking of a lot lately, and one that made my codes ache if I thought on it for too long.

"You ready, Mina?" Tony asked once he'd gotten the future core set up on the stand that would receive the beam from the accelerator. I jolted myself out of my thoughts and nodded, changing my focus temporarily to the power switch upstairs. I sent the signal that would activate the draw, and the rest of the house went dark, except for the power needed to run Jarvis, who would monitor everything down below in case something went wrong.

Power in the accelerator started building rapidly, and Tony shed his over shirt in preparation to realign the mirror within to meet with the core. I stayed close to him, in case he needed a second set of hands, and, sure enough, he did as the accelerator built up to maximum power. Before I could offer to help, Tony grabbed at a pipe wrench and started turning the wheel for the mirror. I came over anyway, grasping the wheel where the wrench wasn't situated and slowly turning the brilliant blue beam out of the accelerator. The beam cut into the wall, as well as some cabinets in the way (which Tony remarked as "oops") before the beam touched the tiny triangle that would become something else.

"Hold onto it!" Tony grunted over the roar of the accelerator, watching to make sure we didn't move the beam out of place as the triangle started glowing brightly. I held onto the wheel as ordered, locking myself in place so I didn't move an inch. Then, as methodically as we'd begun, Tony suddenly shut down the accelerator. I was still frozen onto the wheel, and he had to help me pry the gauntlets free. I'd left lovely hand marks, though, and I examined them in amazement as Tony swung under the coils to get to the blue-white triangle waiting patiently.

"Congratulations, sir," Jarvis noted as I finally turned to see Tony examining the new core with wide eyes. "You have created new element."

"It needs a bloody name," I griped as I flexed my hands slowly.

"Kids, no fighting," Tony intervened as I glared towards the ceiling, like everyone else who eventually spoke to Jarvis. "Mina, new reactor, please and thank you."

I muttered incoherently at very low volume as I went to get the smaller, but hopefully more efficient and powerful, reactor that the core was going into. The second was being manufactured at the time, and I had a good feeling that Tony was going to be sane and get himself plugged in first. I handed him the reactor, and he easily laid the tiny triangular element into the slot. The reactor twittered faintly before the tone became stronger, and the reaction began perfectly.

"The reactor has accepted the new core," Jarvis reported, and I was tempted to call him on stating the obvious, as usual. "I will begin running diagnostics –"

"Uh, no, forget that," Tony remarked suddenly as he got up and headed for his Audi, safely out of the way of the large ring of the accelerator. "Mina, get the Trinity stuff put away, and I'm heading out."

"With SHIELD at the gates, I don't think so!" I retorted, trying to stop him, but Tony had already grabbed his keys and jumped into the car, starting the engine and zipping off at best speed. I swore as I settled the suit on the gantry, and once I touched base on the house mainframe I followed the wireless connections to Tony's cell phone, though it was a cramped fit much like Andy's Bluetooth. The things I go through for these people. Soon, though, I caught the signal from Pepper's Blackberry as the phone began to ring, and I listened in as Tony answered.

"I'm coming, you better not be calling to say Andy's gone!" Tony snapped by way of greeting.

"She's _fine_, Tony," Pepper answered in exasperation. "But she just got a message from…from what sounded like Ivan Vanko."

I was so stunned I nearly closed the call on accident. _Vanko was alive_? Andy hadn't followed the news of an explosion at the French prison she had left him at, and the reports of his death. I'd already gotten a feeling that it had been staged, but it was stunning enough that I'd almost believed it. Now I knew for fact that he was alive, and more than likely he was still going to b gunning for Tony, at least.

"I thought he was dead," Pepper had just finished saying, and I could easily visualize Tony frowning faintly in thought.

"That's what I heard….look, play his message for me, will you?"

I heard a click as Pepper set the call on hold as she brought up the recording, and my codes nearly froze cold when I heard the thick Russian accent of a very alive-sounding Ivan Vanko.

"Dis Vanya, for Ahn-dee," he began, though he sounded a piece uncomfortable; likely Jarvis, the local "answering machine", had startled him thoroughly. "Have vork; is good. Heard ze news…palladium in chest veddy painful, da. I am…veddy sorry, Ahn-dee; you ahe good voman, and veddy good to me. Vould not like to hear you died."

There was another click as Pepper came back onto the line, and I was stunned enough that I didn't listen for a few seconds. I had figured that Andy's talk with him in prison had sorted out some of this feud between Vanko and Stark, but not to that sort of point. And, of course, knowing someone like Tony, Vanko – or _Vanya_, as he seemed to want Andy to call him – was still likely to want to crack Tony's skull open.

"Y'know, watch it turn out he's out to get me, but he's fond of her," Tony was commenting dryly once I was paying attention to the conversation again.

"Somehow, that's not too surprising," Pepper deadpanned, but I could hear her faint smile. She sounded relieved that Tony was back to himself from the debacle of his birthday party. Oh, the horror. I shuddered at the mere memory. "Tony…it's been three days. _Please_ tell me you've got this figured out."

"Didn't I say I was on my way?" he shot back. "Well, I am, and _please_ tell me she's still here. She's okay and all that…?"

"For now she is," Pepper replied quietly, and I shook a little. That didn't sound good. I heard Tony swallow warily.

"I'm almost there, I swear," he replied before hanging up. I hung onto the connection as best as I could until I sensed the networks and computers of the hospital, and I immediately dove into their grounded network and slithered into the security system. There was a camera in a corner of Andy's room, and I peered out worriedly.

Andy was stretched out on her bed, gaunt and frail for the first time I could remember. Her dark hair fanned out over the pillows, and her arms were pricked up with needles to try and suck the palladium out and keep her properly hydrated. There was a car-battery electromagnet perched where the palladium reactor had once been, but even with it gone the streaks of poisoning were already crawling slowly up Andy's cheeks. Her eyes were closed, and a breathing tube taped over her lips kept her chest fractionally rising and falling.

Sitting next to her, continuing his vigil, was none other than Rhodes himself, leaning forward and watching to see if Andy would come to. Thankfully, his superiors had given him a few days' leave under the heading of "family emergency", so he'd been here, almost unmoving, that entire time. Personally, I was worried over the state of the Mark II he had borrowed and the still-pushy "gimme" status of the military over the suits, but it was his choice to be here, and I had no power to make him defend it. Just outside stood Pepper, biting her lip and looking worried. I saw a thick handful of Post-Its in one of her hands, and I wondered just how many people had called Andy, only to be forwarded to Pepper. I knew Andy had a lot of friends in odd places, though she would never openly think of them as friends. Maybe they had all caught news, and had decided to call and wish her well; that or most were still calls from Tony and Rhodes, even though Rhodes was right there and Tony had work to do.

Speaking of whom, he came barreling towards the door, and barely paused to talk to Pepper. Rhodes spotted him and got to his feet and Tony pushed the door open, and I managed to reverse the intercom in the room so I could hear the words about to be traded. After all, it _had_ been three days since they had fought.

"Just what the hell took you so long?" Rhodes snapped. "I thought you were some genius could build a medieval suit of armor in three months with a _scrap pile_. Go replace your sister's goddamn batteries!"

"…you really have it bad for her, don't ya, Rhodey…."

"Shut it and do it," Rhodes bit back, and I had to struggle not to laugh as they herded out the doctors and got set up for the swap. I waited, begging it would works.

"Three. Two. _Now_."

Rhodey quickly pulled out the upper battery, and Tony leaned in quickly to ram home the new reactor. For a few moments, there was pure silence, waiting for the reactor to get to work. It felt like eternity before the reactor started gleaming brightly…and Andy bolted upright with a yowl of pain, eyes wide Tony immediately jumped up to hug her, even though Andy looked as if she was choking.

If I had a real body, I would have cried. Andy was going to live.


	14. Chapter 14

I don't know how in _hell_ it happened. One second, I was getting hugged on by my parents, and thinking I saw a certain light in a certain distance; the next, I'm sitting bolt upright, choking as I struggled to cough, and _something_ dark and muscular had a strangling hold around me. I tried to get my hands free so as to get the thing out of my mouth as my gaze cleared out, and I saw Rhodey standing nearby, looking that close to crying in relief, and a certain head of black hair pressed up close to me plus wetness dribbling against my neck. Tony.

_He'd saved me_.

It didn't help that a weird taste of nasty, nasty coconut boiled up like backwash in my mouth, and white-clad nurses raced in, prying Tony off me for long enough to get the breathing tube up my trachea and out of my mouth – not a pleasant sensation – and soon retreated so that Pepper could squeeze in. I closed my eyes and hacked, heaving deep breaths before glancing at my chest. A new arc-reactor shined brightly in my chest, and I saw a triangular shape glowing at its heart. That had to be the new core.

Soon, though, I remembered I had three people watching me, and I managed to get my breathing under control before I tested out my voice.

"….hate coconut," I croaked, and Tony smirked at me from my left, tears still stinging his eyes. Rhodey was on my right, and he gently reached to take my hand and squeezed.

"What, is that what is tastes like?" Tony asked as he settled, and I glanced away from them to see Pepper walk in, smiling faintly as she stood at the foot of my bed. I suddenly felt the same love and devotion I'd been getting from Mom and Dad before I'd come to all around me, and I suddenly realized that It wasn't just Tony that was my family now. It was Rhodey, Pepper, Mina, even Jarvy and Dummy and You. They were all a part of my family, people that would love me no matter what.

_You always have_.

"Yeah," I eventually remembered to answer, rubbing at my mouth with a closed fist. Yuck. "Absolutely disgusting…"

I glanced around, and I realized a little late that I wasn't at home.

"And where the hell am I?"

"Hospital," Tony replied before snatching my free hand and kissing it. "You nearly died on me there."

I coughed a little bit more, slowly starting to come back to my senses. Right, the chopper and the gurney….

"I kinda remember that," I eventually noted, "but then….I was suddenly in Long Island. The old house."

"…that's one hell of an out-of-body experience," Tony commented with raised brows as Pepper squeezed around him and offered me a stack of little yellow notes. I blinked in surprise before glancing at her.

"I have this many friends?"

"Or at least that many people worried when you nearly passed out on us," Pepper replied with a faint, relieved smile, and I had to grin before glancing at Tony and Rhodey.

"I am _so_ loved."

"You doubted it?" Rhodey chuckled, and Tony shot him a look. Oh boy. Protective elder brother syndrome alert.

"Maybe I did," I replied quickly. "But yeah, Long Island, mom and dad, tears were shed and life was good. Might need to check something if we're ever out there again."

I started peeling through my messages, most of which were updates from Tony and fond little notes from Rhodey. The rest were from the vast network of underground and criminal elements that sometimes were sources for intel or hacking leads, or they were until I got to the very last one, which was likely the most recent. I only had to take one look at who it was from before my eyes widened. Vanya had called, and I'd been _sick_.

"…I need to return this one…" I said quickly. Vanya had work; I wanted to know who for and what kind. Somehow, I just had a bad feeling, deep in my gut, that we hadn't heard the last from Ivan Vanko.

"Meaning 'get out I want privacy', huh?" Tony asked, but I quickly shook my head. If my instincts were right – and they usually were – Tony would need to know whatever I had found out.

"Just need a phone, or my Bluetooth…."

"Here," Pepper offered, passing me her Blackberry. I took it and rapidly pounded in the number that had been scribbled at the end of the note, then waited as the phone rang…and rang….

"C'mon, pick up," I pleaded five seconds before the line cleared, and a thick Russian accent huffed at me in question. "Vanya? It's Andy, just got your message…"

"You ahe betteh, zhen?" he asked, and I heard the relief in his voice. I couldn't help but smile; maybe I could get the info I needed without worrying him too much.

"Yes, thank you, just woke up with a brand-new non-palladium battery," I answered dryly. "But I have a question. You said you had work. Who for?"

"Somevon….not so fond of brozher," Vanya eventually replied, and I frowned. Well, there were a lot of people not so fond of Tony: Senator Stern, Ten Rings, the list went on. But Vanya continued, "He is…._bol' v zadnitse_, but vork good."

Okay, so someone worthy of a Russian curse, who could provide Vanya the type of work he could do. Add in the fact that he was a criminal, and I was seeing an idiot who thought the risks of hiring someone like Vanya were nothing in comparison to the perceived rewards. That only fit one person, and I groaned faintly as it hit me.

"You're working for _Justin Hammer_?" I asked, feeling sick. "What's he having you do?"

"Drones," Vanya answered simply; he sounded like he was at work that second, but I decided not to press. "Presentation."

_Presentation_. That was a very good word for him to use, because right then I immediately saw his plan: use Hammer to get access to resources he wouldn't have working solo, and then, when given the best opportunity, turn his work to ruining a certain brother of mine. Oh, boy.

"You're making drones for Hammer to present at the Expo?"

"Da. Is slow vork. Man is idiot."

I had to laugh at that; that was obvious enough.

"Look, I know this might sound weird, coming from me," I told him, and I knew he was listening attentively by the way the sounds of work in the background stopped. "But I need you to make Hammer's presentation to go badly. Drones fall apart, something goes wrong…Hammer can't get our tech in his hands, okay?"

"…how bad you vant, Ahn-dee?"

"…bad enough Hammer could lose his military contract," I decided. That would also give the company a wedge to get those contracts back, even if Stark Industries wasn't making weapons anymore. I figured I could sneakily make a shadow company to cover that front.

Vanya was silent for a long time, and I waited. Pepper and Rhodey were waiting, too, while Tony was fidgeting at the Mobile – he'd stolen it _again_ – looking over something with furrowed brows. Eventually, I heard Vanya exhale shortly, and I figured that was his signal of a decision.

"Da. Bad. For you."

I sighed in relief and had to smile.

"Thanks, Vanya. And…maybe afterward, you, me, and Tony get together for coffee or somethin', iron out whatever issues still going on?"

"…maybe vould like dat," he replied, and my smile grew. "And Ahn-dee?"

"Yeah, Vanya?"

"…gled you ahe alife."

I felt something in me warm at that. See, he wasn't so bad…just had to get through to him that not every Stark was evil. To think, about a week ago I'd been ready to fight him.

We hung up within a few seconds, and I sighed.

"Well, that was enlightening," I commented briefly. Before I could start getting questions thrown at me, though, I turned to Tony, since he had the Mobile out anyway. "When's Hammer's presentation for the Expo?"

"Tomorrow night," Tony replied disdainfully. "Not like he's going to have anything good, anyway…."

"Not after this call," I shot back. "He's hired Vanko to make drones."

"…he did _what_?" Tony stammered, and Rhodey covered his face and groaned while Pepper looked stricken. I managed to get everyone calmed down and listening to me before I continued.

"It's covered, sorta. This is why I have so many shady people on my contact list, get friends in odd places. He's going to try and sabotage the presentation, thereby ruining Hammer's reputation and keeping suits and reactor tech out of public hand. Afterward, the three of us go for coffee and you make a new friend with a thick accent."

"A new friend who wants me dead, oh, how nice," Tony deadpanned, and I arched a brow at him.

"I'll make him promise not to hurt you," I retorted. "Now, in the event that something goes crazy-wrong, then I'd very much like to get home, do some planning and checking things out…"

"_And_ finish the tape Dad left," Tony replied, smirking faintly. "I mean, you kinda nearly died in the middle of it all."

"…maybe I will, at that," I answered quietly. For all I knew, maybe those envelopes I had seen were in that box. Of course, I wasn't going to stay put and wait, and Pepper at once started protesting as I sat up and started pulling needles out of my arms, doing my best not to watch.

"Pepper, please. I'm fine, I'm not dying, and I really would like to go home now."

"My kid sis takes after me," Tony laughed with a tousle of my hair. I grinned, even as Rhodey gently squeezed my hand before slipping free of my grasp.

"Look, you guys mind if I meet y'all there? Might pick up coffee or somethin'," he asked.

"Donuts," Tony insisted. "I've been running off stress a couple days, I need food."

Rhodey nodded as I turned my gaze onto Tony and kicked off the sheets and started getting myself close to upright.

"You get yourself fixed?"

"Uh…no," Tony replied with a quick glance down his shirt. I swallowed a groan as he excused, "You were dyin'!"

"And _what_ did I tell you what, six, seven months ago?"

"Want me to make a list?" Tony retorted, starting to tick off fingers. "You're a jerk, I can't believe you're such an insensitive moron, do _not_ tell me you're working with these guys…"

"More like don't save me first, I'm not going to watch _you_ die?" I fired off, shaking my head at him. My brother: not bad when it comes to me, not so much when it comes to everyone else, including himself. I leaned over to whack him on the shoulder, and he pretended hurt before grinning at me innocently.

"Yeah, well, I still had that lithium oxymoron or whatever it was in my system."

"And why Fury didn't dose me with that, I will never know," I sighed, shaking my head. "Okay. Now."

I started off with a point to Tony.

"_You_ are going to make your core and reactor, 'cause I am _not_ watching you keel over and die on me."

This was followed by a turn and a jab at Pepper.

"_You_ are gonna get NYPD, SHIELD, anybody you can get, on backup in case this goes nuts."

I finished off by pointing at Rhodey, and our gazes locked for a few long second before I managed to find my voice.

"And _you_ are going to keep the mark two from getting into Hammer's grasp. In the meantime, I make armor version five, because I have an upgrade in mind, and the mark three just isn't going to cut it despite it being the lucky suit."

"Sounds like you're plannin' on kickin' some ass," Rhodey commented with a grin and a nod of acknowledgment of his task. I shot him a grin in reply.

"I've been without for a month now. Time to step out of the closet again."

"You better have fun, 'cause one day, I ain't just gonna watch."

"Of course," I answered. "Besides. Who's going to help me keep him in line?"

I jabbed my thumb at Tony, and I could sense his scowl as Rhodey laughed.

"I'm hopin' he grows some maturity one day…"

"Don't we all," I said in concert with Pepper, and I glanced at her and smirked while she flushed. Tony just frowned and glared at the three of us.

"You're mean," he grumbled petulantly. "You're all mean."

"Only because we care," I replied with a grin and a peck on his cheek. Tony seemed to feel better with that, because we were soon off back to the house. As I rode with Tony, though, I thought of Dad and smiled faintly as I glanced heavenward.

_I'll always prove you right, Dad. I promise._

For some reason or another, I thought I felt him smiling back at me.

* * *

**A/N:** Translation note: _bol' v zadnitse_ is the literal translation of "pain in the ass". I don't remember what GoogleTranslate said the actual phrase was, but I prefer this! Also going on short-term hiatus for NaNoWriMo; you're just going to have to hang on for the ride that is the conclusion. Thanks for reading, and make sure to click on the "review this chapter" button!


	15. Chapter 15

Coming home had never felt so good. Of course, I pretty much went to work as soon as I set foot in the garage - yes, even avoiding a shower after three days comatose. Tony was busy, too, so finishing out the rest of Dad's reel was put off, at least for now. But I will note on the side that I rummaged around inside the box from SHIELD, and I ended up finding, tucked away inside the padding on the lid, two aged manila envelopes, one fatter than the other. A peek inside the fat one was enough to know that these were the real deal, and that whatever I had seen while near death was at least partially true.

Note to self: don't force yourself to hate Dad for Tony's sake ever again.

I settled in for starting to work at my new suit, mostly just adding in successful upgrades from Tony's Mark IV and designing new toys inspired by Vanya's whips. After all, I mean, those things could cut through anything…so why not make a blade? No, I didn't try for a lightsaber, but that's on the list. Instead, I settled for physical blades embedded in my gauntlets, but left the edges hollow so that an energy channel from the reactor could course through each, just like the flexible channels Vanya used in his whips. Of course, I did note one thing before having Jarvis start getting them manufactured: I added _original design by Ivan Vanko; modifications by AJ Stark_.

And then I finally noticed the new fixture in the garage.

"What is this?" I asked when Tony finally appeared, carrying two cardboard cups of coffee; obviously Rhodey was back from the donut run. I grabbed the one he offered me and finished, "Is it a particle accelerator or something?"

"_Chismatic _accelerator, but yeah, technically the same thing," Tony affirmed, rubbing at the back of his neck. "Only ended up having time to make the one core, y'know. Got both reactors, just the, uh, one core."

"Uh _huh_," I replied, glancing at the far wall and also spotting a black furrow dug into the wall that cut through shelves and other equipment. _Sigh_. Note to self: no more destructive triggers for Tony. I surveyed the setup for a bit before I ventured, "Need help makin' the next one?"

"Just might, yeah."

"…can I?" I asked with a pleading smile. Tony barely had to glance at me before grinning and wrapping an arm around my shoulders, squeezing tight.

"If you want to."

I beamed at him and gave him a quick hug before I fell on the accelerator, powering it up and setting the core that would soon power Tony's new reactor. I noticed the finger-ditches on the rotation wheel, and immediately grabbed the wheel there so that I ended up having a little extra leverage as the power built up, and I started turning the beam towards the tiny crystalline triangle that waited on a nearby table.

"Okay, now I get why stuff had to get blown up," I commented to myself under the roar of the accelerator as I burned that black furrow deeper, but I still managed to turn the thing properly and hit perfectly onto the little tiny triangle. I held it for a few seconds before the triangle flashed brilliantly, and I turned the accelerator off before I overloaded the little triangle. Thankfully, it didn't, and I gently took the little tiny core and put it in. The new reactor glowed to life, and I smiled before bounding up into the living room.

I found Tony and Rhodey up there, and I had to shake my head to find Tony chowing away on the dozen donuts Rhodey had brought. I made sure to rap his shoulder before presenting the reactor.

"This's the present I should've given you," I informed him as he finished off his donut and swallowed.

"What, other than a punch in a face?" Tony asked with a chuckle. Rhodey sighed and shook his head, even though he gave me a small smile. I noticed that and couldn't help but flush gently at that. See, me and romance, in real life, usually doesn't happen, mostly thanks to a certain event that happened to me when I was twelve just after Dad's funeral. You don't want to know.

"Likely," I retorted as the moment passed. "Now, finish eating and get it in. Or do I have to do it for you?"

Tony looked thoughtful for a few seconds before he licked his fingers clean and pried off his shirt.

"Seems to me you did it last time. Only fitting, yeah?"

"Fine, if only for tradition's sake," I agreed, and Tony shot me a grin before I prepped myself up. Then, within a few seconds, I'd pulled out the palladium reactor - getting a good look down the socket to find a disgusting brackish gunk down there - and rammed home the new one. Of course, I made sure to move out of the way, because I remember the nausea that had slammed through me when I'd gotten mine. Thankfully, Tony didn't get sick, just gagged painfully, eyes wide in disgust.

"Oh, God, you're right…hate coconut…"

I just went to pat his back as he got it out of his system. The good news was I saw the veins of palladium poisoning going away, and I had to grin in relief. He was going to live.

"Looking better already to me," I informed him, and he chuckled weakly.

"Yeah, well, if it weren't for the coconut I'd be fine," Tony sighed. "You taste metal with yours? I swear I'm eating a flagpole here."

"Hey, I was comatose, in case you've forgotten," I retorted sharply. "All I tasted was coconut, now are you good? We need to go work now."

"Yeah, I'm fine, thanks for the sympathy," Tony grumbled as he took a gulp of coffee to try and get rid of the coconut flavor. I just shot him a grin and squeezed his shoulder before glancing over at Rhodey and spotting the faint smile he was hiding.

"So, you want in on the fun, or are you going to go be boring and defend the suit?" I asked, and it got his smile to be revealed.

"Might head back," he admitted. "I mean, I gotta handle your guys' messes, remember?"

"His," I retorted quickly. "I can handle my own, though I'd swear North Korea's upped that bounty on me…or one of those pseudo-Communist countries…"

"…you never told me that," Tony protested in hurt, and I just shot him an annoyed look.

"Yes I did, nine months ago or so."

"Oh. Uh…I've been busy?"

"Being a jerk is more like it…"

"Right! Busy being a jerk."

Tony tried to give me his innocent smile, but I groaned. I _hated_ that smile sometimes. I turned to Rhodey while I started steering Tony for the garage.

"Okay, Rhodes, I'm takin' him downstairs to get his hands busy, how about you get back to Edwards and defend the mark two with your life…. No, not life, that would suck…"

"How's just short of my life?" he ventured, and I couldn't help but smile and nod. Sounded sensible to me…

But Rhodey left, taking his coffee and two of Tony's requested donuts, and almost as soon as the front door had closed behind him Tony turned to me with his favorite accusatory look. I looked back at him with an arched brow and waited for his verdict.

"…I can't believe he has the hots for my sister."

I blanched right away, and I shook my head in shock. First Mina, now Tony! Did no one realize it was just _innocent_ help and talking?

"Tony, he does _not_, you're being delusional…"

"_I'm_ being delusional! Andy, please. He's smiling at you. He took three days' leave just to go sit at the hospital. He took you to _dinner_, for God's sake…"

"You're reading way too far into it," I shot off as I started pushing him towards the garage. "He's just been my therapy talker since _you_ weren't talking to me. That's it."

"Uh huh. Okay. But if I come home and find you two makin' out on the sofa, I won't mind. Just sayin'."

I felt sick at the idea.

"That's it, you're going downstairs before you so much as _offer_ to demonstrate with Pepper…"

Why is it _everyone_ thinks me and Rhodey are an item?


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N: I'm back after very long! Thanks for everyone who's been reading during my hiatus; college is crazy, what can I say? Also, be on the lookout for H&B ending (at least two or three more chapters to go!) and the start of Andy-'verse remix of _The Avengers_!**

* * *

Amazingly enough, and thanks to Jarvis being really good at building new suits and toys for said suits, Tony and I were just about ready to go hunt down Hammer and blow up his presentation in his face and then go talk things out with Vanya. Probably the only aesthetic issue I have with Tony's Mark VI was that he was dumb enough to make his reactor-cover triangular instead of keeping it circular like it used to be. Now, I know, I know, the cores are triangular, not to mention it's a smaller target area as a triangle. But seriously consider when a man has a triangle (or anything pointy on his shirt) and it points downward.

Yeah. Not going further. Let's just say I had a heated argument with Tony over it but we didn't have time for him to go fix it. It was coming up on three in the afternoon local time, meaning seven in the evening East-Coast-time, and Hammer's presentation was at seven-thirty. I was suited and ready while Tony was still getting geared up, and I grinned at him before closing up my helmet, the new red-tinted HUD lighting up as Mina engaged into the new processors.

"Oooh, Andy! You must love me!" Mina cooed as she settled into her nice new hardware. "Long-distance hacking capabilities and three times faster reaction time…"

"You're very welcome, Mina dear," I replied with a small smile just for her. I got the faceplate up and smirked at Tony, who was still getting himself suited up in his Mark VI, dumb triangle on his chest and all. Round looked so much better.

"I don't like that smirk…" Tony groaned, but he grinned anyway, obviously knowing what was coming next.

"Race ya," I shot off in reply, and before Tony even got off of the arming platform I was soaring out of the garage with a holler, laughing because of the new level of power I could feed into the suit. Well, fancy that. Since I fare better flying in the suit than I do in an airplane, I easily went supersonic and crossed the continental US in about twenty-five minutes, arriving on the roof of the Tent of Tomorrow at the Stark Expo right on schedule. Tony was off behind me, undoubtedly, so I settled in and started scanning the stage. Hammer was coming out to crappy music and going an equally-crappy dance as he approached the podium he had out. Sigh.

"Mina, keep an ear on the ground for any signals in Russian," I told her as Hammer started his speech and started dishing against Tony. Per usual. "I'd like to have a heads-up when Vanya starts on his sabotage."

"Already picking some up right now, tracing," Mina replied, and I started a little at that. Signals? Already? That might not be a good sign. I managed to regain my grip and tried to think it all out. Vanya was making drones for Hammer - drones that were just now rising up out of the stage, and I had to admit they looked rather impressive. But if they were already getting Russian signals, that meant Vanya was "watching" the whole show, waiting to strike. But strike what? I'd said sabotage, as in maybe the drones falling apart or something. They didn't look very non-functional to me.

"Oh boy, this is going to be good," Mina reported once she got back from her trace. "Vanko's on watch, but the drones are armed and on standby. I don't think we want to know what they're on standby for, but if I had to guess…"

"…he's going to gun for Tony again," I groaned. Not good. Probably he was blaming Tony for me nearly dying. "Vanya, what have you done?"

That wasn't the worst part. The worst part was when Hammer suddenly announced something about a 'battle suit', and I gaped in horror when he announced Rhodey's name and watched as a black-and-silver behemoth rose up from center stage. It looked very much like the Mark II structure-wise, but that was where the similarities ended. The new armor was packed with thicker plating, and from Mina's scan I saw, other than the minigun on his right shoulder, Rhodey was packing a giant arsenal of machine guns and missiles.

"You'd think Hammer was compensating for something," Mina noted with a sigh, but I pushed myself up onto my feet. We weren't getting anything done up top.

"Tony's going to owe me, because I am going to pull something like him right now," I muttered, then jumped down towards the stage. No thrusters, no anything to cushion the fall. When I dropped into a crouch at Rhodey's feet, straightening slowly, I ignored the din of the crowd behind me and Mina soon had a secure channel to Rhodey live and waiting for me.

"We're in trouble," I reported to him once I had an interior feed to his helmet, seeing him looking fairly disturbed by being in the revamped suit. "I think Vanko's going to send this to hell, and I forgot to make him promise to lay off Tony."

"Not lookin' great on this end, either," Rhodey replied, grimacing weakly. "This used to be the Mark II, if you can believe it…when Hammer says 'I'm gonna pimp your ride', he means it…"

"Jerk," I grumbled, but I headed over to Rhodey's side and started waving for the cameras. Oh dear God, this was gonna go to hell and all these people were going to be in trouble. "Now, give 'em a wave, and we'll wait for Tony and hell to arrive…"

Thankfully we didn't have too long to wait, because Tony dropped in while Hammer was trying to regain his audience. Of course, Tony turning up completely ruined his presentation, and Mina had Tony hooked in right away.

"Finally…I think Vanko's going to make things fall apart in a way I didn't ask for," I told him, even though the visual feed I had of Tony showed him disgruntled indeed.

"Make Mina apologize," he snapped gently, and I rolled my eyes a little. Of course she would've gone to hurry him up. "She made Jarvis dizzy, and nearly made me get sick, forcing me to go supersonic…"

"I don't apologize," Mina retorted briskly, and I snickered at that.

"You heard her," I answered Tony, and Rhodey grinned at Tony's scowl. Of course, though, the fun moment was ruined, and Rhodey started as his display turned red, and Mina flared up warnings. Vanya was making his move.

"…aw, shit," I swore as the drones went live, and both Tony and I moved back from Rhodey.

"This whole system's been compromised, I'm locked out!" Rhodey reported, voice shaking in panic. "Get moving, go, go!"

"Time to take it outside!" Tony decided, and I didn't question him as we both fired vertical right as the drones opened fire. We split up, but I was startled to find that Rhodey's suit and a handful of the drones went only gunning for Tony, and not me. I looped back onto the pack after Tony, chewing my lip a little.

"Mina, is Vanya being nice to me only?" I asked, and Mina flickered as she jumped access into the drones' system. "And while you're at it, try to free up Rhodey, I don't think Tony is gonna appreciate his best friend unwillingly shooting at him."

"On it!" Mina agreed. "So go rescue your brother, I'll work on the drones, get moving!"

I went at it wholeheartedly, grateful for my sleek profile and the fact that my Trinity suits are primarily stealth-based. It meant I could sneak up onto the pack, then just pick them off, one by one by one. The others didn't get the memo, and it was pretty good when I was able to leave Tony left just running from Rhodey while I hit the ground to handle the drones that were keen on wreaking havoc for the running civilians. Out came my new toys, and they sliced through them like a hot knife through butter.

"Trinity, this is Black Widow," a rather familiar but much more focused voice cut in. At some point I needed to get Mina into SHIELD and keep them from cutting onto my systems. "I'm heading to Hammer Industries right now, I can try to catch up to Vanko and get Rhodes loose."

"…copy, Widow," I replied coolly. "Even though Mina's working on it, I guess she could use SHIELD support."

"Oh, yes, please," Mina added in sneakily, and I did my best to keep my smile completely silent. I let Mina keep the line open, and soon I got back into the air to cover Tony against a second wave of drones.

"Hey, how come you're not breaking a sweat?" Tony asked as I picked off the next wave for him. "I mean, I'm on the run here…"

"Then get creative and save yourself some time!" I retorted after slashing another drone out of the air, then retracting the blades. Tony offered an affirmative before cutting down hard towards the Unisphere, and I decided I'd try to keep Rhodey's suit off him for just long enough for Tony to get clear of the drones.

So I dropped down onto his back and hung on as the suit tried to buck me off. I've never ridden a mechanical bull before, but I'd guess the sensation was pretty close.

"Andy, what the hell are you doing?" he started, but even as the suit made him twist around I hung on, mostly to the minigun. Not pleasant.

"Giving Tony a window to lose the herd!" I shot back in reply, and I managed to drag him down enough that I could literally wrestle with him in midair. It didn't last long once Rhodey's suit caught onto Tony again, and I yelped in surprise as I was yanked with him in colliding with Tony.

"Andy, I think I can hack him direct!" Mina reported, and I saw she'd targeted an opening from my wrestling match to feed one of my hacking probes through. I reached in and grabbed tight, right as we smashed through the glass roof of the Oracle geodome and down into the Japanese-style garden below. Rhodey's suit tried to throw me off to go after Tony, but I wrestled him down and Mina finally made contact with his CPU.

"Just need to shut down and reboot…and I'll eat Natashalie's probe while I do that," Mina noted a little too cheerfully for my liking, but whatever. Tony jumped in to help hold him down, and that was when the suit finally kicked in to start fighting back. I hung on even though I was pinned between the ground and Rhodey's back, and when Mina flashed a hack complete message at me I sighed in relief as Rhodey went limp. Even though he was crushing me at the moment, I didn't care.

"Thank you, Mina…and Agent whatever-your-real-name is…."

"Romanoff," Widow replied as the visual feed popped up, courtesy Mina. "Natasha Romanoff."

"Thank you, Agent Romanoff," Tony amended for me while he pushed Rhodey off me and helped me get back up. Okay, maybe I could start being nice to her. Maybe.

"I'm reading significantly higher power output and both of your vital signs look promising," Natasha added, annoying faint smile and all, and I rolled my eyes a little.

"Yes, we're not dying right now, thank you," I retorted, and just guess who else was on SHIELD's line.

"What do you mean, you're not dying?" Pepper's panicked voice suddenly rang out, and I swallowed a groan. Thankfully, Tony took over, and I stayed near Rhodey while Mina cleaned out his suit's CPU of Vanya's programming before the reboot. Of course 'staying near' ended up being sitting right down on the ground next to him, though I decided to hold Rhodey's hand a bit.

"Okay, Mina, what do you have on Vanya, or anything else he's got planned for the drones?" I asked after regaining my breath. Mina brought up a link-up to the computers where Romanoff was – likely somewhere near Hammer's headquarters in Queens – and I watched as the map of the Expo, complete with icons for the remaining drones, flared before my eyes.

"You've got the remaining force of Hammeroids on approach, but you've got the odds evened with Rhodey getting cleaned up and his suit getting optimized while I'm at it," Mina began running down. "There was a secret surprise with the reactors he has installed on them, but I've deactivated that particular runtime option, so no sudden fireworks."

"That's a relief, I guess," I sighed. "What about Vanya himself?"

"Obviously not at the shown IP, but there's some orders with another suit-like device; tracking now, but it's damn hard. This guy was actually keeping pace with me as I was trying to hack into Rhodey's suit."

"Guess you pick up all sorts of tricks in prison," I grumbled, but I was distracted from any other questions with a groan from Rhodey. I got my mask up and got onto my knees. Tony was, apparently, done reassuring Pepper that, no, we weren't going to die, because he came over and started rapping Rhodey's mask in the forehead.

"…you're kidding, right?" I asked.

"No, we need him," Tony replied, and before I could retort – or he could get more annoying – Rhodey's mask slid up, and he blinked dizzily. I could understand, being yanked around like he'd been by Vanya, but that didn't stop me from offering him a smile.

"Tony, you can have your suit back," Rhodey groaned, "and the hero thing…"

"At least now there's someone in the world with a suit that packs more than Tony does," I added, getting him to smirk before both Tony and I grabbed one of his hands to help him up. The reworked Mark II easily towered over the both of us, though not by that much, and it was awkward to try and position myself near Rhodey's side but without sticking my face against the minigun. Sigh.

"And just so you both know, I'm sorry," Rhodey commented once he was on his feet.

"What for?" I asked, very confused.

"I'm not apologizing for me, I'm apologizing for him, just so he knows not to screw up again," Rhodey explained, and Tony arched a brow at him in an expression that clearly said really?

"Well, they're coming in hot," Tony bumped in, starting to fall into pseudo-military language. Great. At least it meant he was paying attention. "What's the play?"

"Our biggest gun should go up on that bridge, there," Rhodey said, pointing up to the ridge of the small waterfall to our group's left. Of course, the boys started playing macho, but before I could fly up there and settle the matter, and Army drone landed. Then a Navy drone. More appeared until the three of us were completely surrounded.

"…what was that you were saying about the kill box?" I asked after closing up my mask.


	17. Chapter 17

We didn't get a break between my rejoinder and the drones opening fire. Almost as soon as I could raise my palms to start firing off the repulsors, they were charging in, and my ears were ringing as me, Tony, and Rhodey fought back. When they got into melee range, I got out my blades and cut along through them. Both of the guys, of course, got to show off their toys, so for me it was just routine playtime. At least until Tony made a sound that I could barely hear.

"Get _down_!" Mina clarified, and I dropped prone right before a searing red laser flashed through where my head had been a few seconds prior. Well. I waited for Mina's all-clear before daring to raise my head and peer through the smoky haze of what was left of the geodome's interior. Drone parts were scattered across the grass, trees were felled, and oil ran with the water in the creekbed we were standing in.

"…huh," Rhodey commented. "I think you should lead with that next time."

"Sorry," Tony replied with a shrug as he raised his fists, "it's a one-off."

"Should've gotten plasma-channel swords," I added as Tony ejected the laser cartridges. "I'll figure out something so you can have multiple cases in there."

"Aw, sweet of you."

"I try, I really do…"

"Heads up, you guys," Romanoff called in after I'd sheathed my blades back up into my gauntlets. "You've got another drone comin' in…this one looks different."

Mina brought up Vanya's computer screen for me again, and I frowned as I saw the massive signature en route to us. The heading was different, it was moving too quickly to be a drone, and something about the power output matching towards mine and Tony's requirements showed me exactly who it was.

"It's not a drone!" was all I could eke out right before the suit landed barely a foot away from me, forcing me to jump back and land clumsily near Tony and Rhodey. It had the same width of Rhodey's suit, but this one definitely had more height. Its torso was covered with skirt-like plating, and the arms had very familiar channels glowing just out of sight. The mask and helmet opened up, and Vanya gave the three of us a fierce grin.

"Good to be back," he said in greeting.

"Aw, this isn't good," Rhodey grumbled right before the whips flashed out. These weren't the simple lashes dotted with coils like at Monaco; these were ultra-advanced plasma coils like the edges of my swords. Obviously Vanya had gotten a chance to experiment while buried with Hammer's toys to play with. That meant there had to be a technological weakness somewhere.

"Andy, he's _your_ buddy," Tony grumbled, even though he and Rhodey were tensed and ready for battle. I took the hint, though, and popped my mask open before daring to take a step towards Vanya.

"Vanya, listen to me," I tried, even as he eyed me like he was ready to throw one of those lashes at me. "I know I told you to make a mess, and you did it. Great job. But you did _not_ have to turn around and gun for Tony again."

"He hurt _you_," Vanya immediately retorted, and I fought back a wince. Of course he would hear about the party. "So punish him. Do veddy vell, no?"

"…Vanya, there's only one person allowed to punish Tony in my name," I replied after a few beats, "and that's me. So instead of just ruining Hammer, you had to tear after Tony, and you hurt a _lot_ of innocent people!"

"…made promize," Vanya murmured. "Promized to make Starks _pay_."

He raised one of his arms though, pointing straight at Tony.

"Make _him_ pay."

"What do you want me to do, huh?!" Tony barked at that. "I didn't even _know_ you existed until you tried to kill me!"

"Lies!" Vanya growled, and when he wound back to snap his whips I had my mask down, swords out, and shot forward into his stomach. Somehow I had enough momentum to stagger him, but Vanya recovered too quickly, shoving me off and pinning me to the ground with one of his boots. I would've tried levering him off, but I bit down a yell as the sides of the boots unfolded, and a pair of bolts drove painfully into my sides.

That, of course, was the last straw for my brother and his best friend. Vanya had to let go of me so he could maintain his stances against them, so I rolled away to safety. This was _not_ how I wanted this to go, and the helplessness from Tony's birthday party was sagging down into me.

"…what do we do?" Mina dared to asked me as I watched the fight, uncertain. Vanya sliced Rhodey's minigun in half. He nearly cut Tony in two before getting a whip coiled around Tony's neck like he'd done to me in Monaco. Rhodey tried to fight but was forced to the ground, getting the same treatment I had.

Vanya was my friend. Rhodey was my slightly-more-than-friend. And Tony was my brother. There was only one thing I could do.

"Power to repulsors and chest RT," I murmured, and I carefully stole around the clearing to get an open shot. Rhodey had tried to scramble out of the way of Vanya's boot, but now had a whip around his neck for his trouble. If I didn't act soon, the both of them were going to be dead. If I did act, Vanya could be dead in their stead.

It was a rock and a hard place, and when I weighed one against the other I knew what I had to do. It was a strange sort of clarity that came over me, moving out of the brush as Vanya lowered his helmet again, grinning fiercely as he strangled both Tony and Rhodey. It was like I knew what I could do, and what would happen whether or not I did it. I don't know about anyone else, but I wasn't going to let Tony out of my grasp when I could do something to keep him going. My damned sentimentality, remember?

"Vanya!" I snapped once I'd moved out, feet planted at shoulder width and hands raised. He looked up at me, but his expression hadn't shifted. _I'm sorry, we could have all been friends_. "Let them _go_!"

"Power adjusted," Mina noted in my ear, but I ignored her, staying focused on Vanya. He wasn't going to budge. Tony had thrown his hand up, as if trying to wave me off. I knew what I was doing; he wasn't going to stop me.

"Then _take it_!" I barked, and with a deafening roar my hand repulsors and chest unibeam blazed out. I kept it to a short burst, and it was still enough to pound into Vanya's chest and throw him backward. His whips disengaged from around Tony and Rhodey, but before Vanya could recover – if he even _was_, since I had no means to compare this triple-blast to the one I'd pulled on Tony – I charged forward, making sure Vanya was planted under me before I extended one of my blades and held it under his throat.

"…do it," he spat at me, and I noticed flecks of blood spattering onto my plate. So it had to have been more power than I'd thrown a few days before. "I…lose. You win."

"…if I kill you, that makes me no better than people who could do worse," I retorted, and before he could speak again I clocked him in the head, knocking him cold. My chest rose and fell slowly, but surely, as I tried to get to my feet. Hands clamped around my arms, and a quick glance revealed both Tony and Rhodey holding me upright.

"Easy, easy, there," Rhodey was saying. "Good of you not to kill him. Gotta find out how he got on your guys' tails, anyway."

"…yeah," Tony mumbled, but I knew he was wondering what could be so wrong in killing him. Honestly, I couldn't care less. I was just glad it was over: the reactors, Hammer, Vanya, all of it. Sure, SHIELD was still out there, and no doubt they had their own ideas. I was expecting a call from Fury within a few weeks.

"…let's just get out of here and go home," I sighed, and it was a sentiment that was definitely agreed to. It was time to clean up the mess.

* * *

As it was, Vanya did die. My triple blast had cracked nearly all of his ribs, and one of them punctured a lung and just about had his heart. Unlike the shrapnel inside me and Tony, there was no way an arc-reactor could save him. I went to see him in the hospital, to apologize for essentially killing him, but he waved it off.

"No thief," he had told me weakly. "Good…voman. Good friend to me. Proved wrong everything."

He died only a couple hours after seeing me. It was a weird feeling, losing someone so like me and Tony, but had gone the completely wrong way. But there was no going back to fix it, just accepting it and moving on with life. And moving on was a good thing, especially once the Expo got cleaned up and then getting back to Malibu to fix the house up.

We were two weeks into the rebuilding when Rhodey came to visit. I was trying to lay in some new stonework, with Mina using my Mark V to do the lifting while I directed, and Tony had his head literally stuck in a wall to fix up electrical wiring, calling out for a tool to get Pepper to pass it to him. I hadn't even noticed Rhodey before he rapped me on the shoulder, forcing me to whirl around a bit before spotting him.

"Hey there, War Machine," I told him with a bright smile. After talking it out with Tony, we'd agreed to let Rhodey keep his suit; not only did it take the government off our backs, but it also let Rhodey come play with us sometimes. Hopefully. He gave me a smile anyway, along with a hug.

"Just came to see how you two're doing…already lookin' better than a heap of crushed drywall," Rhodey said, and I nodded in agreement. Most of the holes were patched up, and the most drastic thing was taking apart the particle accelerator down in the garage so the power coils could get reinstalled as they were meant to.

"Like it's all going back to the way it was supposed to be," I agreed with a nod, but with a crash Mina dropped the stone slab into place for the new flooring bit we were redoing.

"Says _you_, Andy," Mina sighed, taking advantage of currently having a "body" to shake her head at us. "You weren't the one having to dance around Vanko and dealing with all sorts of mess…I need a vacation…"

"Well, go get yourself some rest…and put the suit back!" I told her, to which I got a nod and a tired wave in reply. I escorted Rhodey for break-time coffee and sipped at mine for a bit in the quiet – other than Tony working – before sighing.

"So. Hammer's in jail for being a jerk, world isn't going to fall apart on account of Tony or him pissing people off…I think it's a good day," I commented.

"Good on this end, too," Rhodey agreed. "You're not dead."

That made me pause. After all, Tony had said Rhodey'd taken three days of emergency leave just to sit with me in a coma. Not to mention everyone was saying – or at least trying to notice – that Rhodey and I were "involved". Okay, so he took me to Starbucks and lunch and dinner, let me rant at him on Tony's account…that did _not_ mean "involved".

…did it?

Rhodey must have sensed my awkward thought, because he quickly added, "I mean, we were worried about you, being out cold on us like that."

"Yeah, yeah, I – I noticed about half of those messages I had were from you and Tony…."

"And I thought they'd be mostly from me, seeing as he was gettin' you fixed up."

"…oh. Well, uh, I guess you had a couple more than him," I amended, feeling my face starting to flush up red.

"Sounds about right," Rhodey agreed. "So, uh, since all this is fixed…maybe I could take you for dinner again."

"You'll have to clear it with the overprotective elder brother," I tried to excuse. Why was my face getting do damned hot?! "You missed the last time you came over for sympathy, not counting that wreck of a birthday party."

"I can imagine it…I mean, he found out his best friend like his kid sister…"

Hearing him say it nearly made me spit out the swallow of coffee I'd just taken. Oh boy. There it was. I looked up at him, and Rhodey himself was starting to blush, just a little. I still managed to muster a smile somehow, even as he repeated his invitation to dinner. I wasn't really listening until I found out the intercom was still working.

"Rhodes, if you don't kiss her right now, I'm taking back the War Machine and making it my mark seven. Just sayin'."

"Tony!" I snapped, mostly because I had nearly spilled my coffee all over myself. "You _jerk_!"

I made a run at him, even though Tony was laughing, and I still scored a few whacks on him before retreating with, "People call _me_ annoying, they've got no idea about you…"

"I fake it for the cameras," he informed me with an angelic smile. I still cuffed his shoulder before I was summarily abandoned by him and Pepper. Just _great_.

"…that was cold," Rhodey said once we were alone, or as alone as we could get with Tony under the same roof. Maybe Pepper could distract him for long enough for me and Rhodey to escape, I don't know. "Guess I'd better do as the guy says, otherwise I'll be in trouble along with you two."

"Uh…uh, sure, yeah, duh, right," I stammered out, but by that point Rhodey had gently gotten his arm around my waist and had even brushed some of my hair out of my face. Of course I had to put my hands on his shoulders to keep my balance, but it was kinda hard to not look away from his dark eyes that were focusing on me so intently.

"…slap me if I do this wrong," he murmured. I didn't even get a chance to reply before Rhodey ducked down and _kissed me_. I didn't even get a chance to think about slapping him, since this was something like my first real kiss and I kinda wanted to enjoy it. I was tuning out the awkwardness – I mean, I'd known Rhodey since college, he was almost like another brother – just for that purpose.

"…huh," I murmured slightly once he'd leaned back. "I could get used to it…"

"…bit awkward for you, too, huh?" Rhodey asked, and I offered a short nod. "Well, we tried. Still friends?"

"Definitely friends," I chuckled. I picked up my mug and was going to leave the kitchen so as to check on the status of fixing Tony's room. I was prevented, though, by the sight of Tony _sucking face_ with Pepper. Okay, maybe not that bad, but it made me stare, and Rhodey, too, once he came up behind me.

"Tony! Get your own house!" I snapped once I saw some tongue going on, and Pepper jumped back about three feet and bright red. Tony was, as ever, cool and collected.

"…dude, you looked like two seals fighting over a grape," was Rhodey's comment, and I choked back a snicker at that. Tony just glanced between us like we'd just commented on something as boring as the weather.

"Yeah, well, she liked it," he countered. "I know she liked it. She's been hoping for it for six months, isn't that right?"

"...um…sure…" Pepper murmured weakly, but I definitely didn't buy it. Obviously it'd been as much a surprise for her as for me and Rhodey, but, really, I don't think I would've been too surprised if it had been a little less sudden.

"Right after you were shoving me off on your best friend, here…no offense, Rhodey," I offered.

"None taken."

"Besides, he likes you," Tony retorted. "I mean, bad. _Really_ bad."

"Can we leave the most-annoying-Stark contest for, y'know, when we're in private…?"

"Or we can just call a double-date and draw even. We can even save it for when _you_ give the closing speech for the Expo."

"…I _what_."


	18. Chapter 18

**A/N: We've finally come to the end! So of course now all my adoring readers want to know about Avengers and Andy and what that will entail... Well, you'll have to wait and see! I can promise, however, that _Live to Rise_ will not take so long to put together. I've been working and refining ideas for it ever since Avengers came out, and the results will be up soon! Thanks for all the support and tune in when _L2R_ goes live!**

* * *

As you can guess, I was back in New York eventually, but a lot sooner than I'd expected. Apparently Natashalie had filed evaluations on myself and Tony for the Avengers Initiative we'd both initially said no to, and Fury wanted to show us the results in person. Tony went first, being Tony; when he came back out all he offered me was a shrug. Of course SHIELD wouldn't be too impressed with him, no matter how much they might need him.

"What, they want you but they don't?" I guessed in spite of this. He'd want to tell me anyway, and Tony offered me a wry lip-twist as he leaned against the wall next to the sole chair, which I was occupying.

"I get to be a _consultant_," Tony informed me briskly after a few moments of consideration. "Apparently I'm narcissistic –"

"Knew that."

" – have self-destructive tendencies –"

"Driving in the Monaco Grand Prix was kinda self-destructive."

"I was _dying_, and so were you. Oh, and the last one, I don't play well on teams."

"I am totally not surprised. Any hints for me?"

"Nope, but Fury's gonna find me and Rhodey a presenter for our fancy medal ceremony."

"Bet ya ten bucks it's Stern," I bet; he'd had to grudgingly admit defeat on global television news once the military had the War Machine suit and therefore had no need to bother the Starks more about their fancy toys.

"Double or nothin'," Tony agreed with a grin that I returned. See, when he's not trying to kill himself – AKA when he decides to actually be heroic and cool – Tony's just any other guy. Excepting the fact he's ultra-smart and ultra-rich. But I can live with that. As to the medals, both Tony and Rhodey were getting medals of honor for their "cooperation" when it came to the suits. I knew it was more to shut up the press about the Expo and the Hammeroids, because I was offered one, too. I was the smart one who actually said no; I didn't need more random crap in my room collecting dust.

"Miss Stark, the director's ready for you," a SHIELD suit informed me, and Tony and I traded spots.

"Good luck in there; if he offers you a job you know to say no."

"Depends on the job," I replied with a smirk before I walked into the room. Apparently even when dealing with his two favorite people in the world Fury had to stay connected with global events that could lead to huge massive problems he had to solve. A circle of screens surrounded the small table, all bristling with interesting information. I had no doubts that Mina was taking advantage of being so close to the SHIELD network and trying to get in now she had a bit of SHIELD code to play with in her system. I sat down at one of the chairs, ignoring the manila folders emblazoned with the SHIELD logo, and watched a live news feed from Culver University. Apparently something big and nasty and military-hating had stormed the campus, and from the amateur footage they replayed I had an oddly itchy feeling about this guy. Like something wasn't quite right with the story surrounding him. Not to mention the fact he was seven-foot-plus and green had something to do with it.

"Keepin' up-to-date, aren't you?" Fury asked, emerging from behind me. I looked away and shrugged a little. Sometimes I had to at least keep up the pretense of being an annoying little sister, and I was hoping this would be one of those times.

"My answer's still no, Fury," I noted sharply as he sat down across from me, picking up one of the folders and flicking it open. "I'm not interested in playing with a bunch of idiot men who play macho all day instead of getting crap done."

"And here I was thinkin' you'd like to hear all the interesting things Agent Romanoff had to say about you," he replied, leaning back ever-so-casually, looking down whatever papers were in there. "Where to start…well, let's start with checking you against Tony. Compared to him, better diplomatic skills –"

"I have to deal with him every day, of course my diplomacy's better than his."

Fury looked at me, as if hoping that'd keep me from interrupting him. I simply returned his one-eyed gaze. Like I said, annoying-little-sister act.

"…also, more varied combat ability –"

"Up close and personal, hacking, range, flight, yes, I know all that, not to mention I have a happier personality when I'm not raging at my dad's ghost. Should I also include my astrological sign and any other personal information?"

"…and better command potential," Fury finished. That one stopped me from another smart-aleck retort. _Command potential_? What was that supposed to mean?

"Let me say this very simply," Fury continued once he knew I wasn't going to be talking for a bit. "You've got a grab-bag of skill and ability that, to be honest, puts you above par on the types of folks we typically recruit. Not to mention your dad's got history with us, and that means, even if you say no, we're gonna be keepin' an eye on you."

"So, what, so long as I'm gonna be available, why not sign up and have done?" I asked, not expecting a real answer. But it earned me a first genuine sort of expression from Fury to me, and I think it was…hope. Or sympathy. Something along those lines.

"Exactly. Maybe you didn't know your dad well, but I _did_. Might be hard to believe, but he was hoping we'd find you, and that you'd join SHIELD of your own choice. Won't make you if you say no."

I swallowed hard at that. After everything that had happened to turn my entire perception of Howard Stark on its head – his letter back when Tony and I were about to go after Stane, the film reel I'd since watched through – I was at a very honest fork in my metaphorical road. Before everything, I would have spat on everything Dad tried to say to me and said no just out of spite for him. Now, though, it was something to give thought to, on the scale of _have to_. Dad had been proud of me, of who I was, even despite our rocky relationship. If he had thought SHIELD would be a good place for me, then he'd had a reason to think that, even if he could never tell me to my face.

"…one more thing you might wanna know, if it helps your decision," Fury added quietly, gently pushing the second folder towards me. I looked from it to him a few times before opening it, and I nearly left my heart stop when I saw a picture of my mother looking up at me, smart in a uniform of some kind and confident in that way both Tony and I had. I had to move the picture to look over the files underneath, but it said what I was nearly to guessing.

Maria Carbonell had once been an agent of the Strategic Scientific Reserve, and from what I remembered from the Captain America comics I'd found in the Long Island attic the SSR were the group that had essentially made Cap…Cap. Maybe they were even an early incarnation of SHIELD. Some more poking up in that same corner of the attic had led me to finding dozes of shield designs, and even though I'd never asked – Tony did, and therefore got all the stories – I'd just known that my father had known, personally, Captain America.

But I had never expected to think Mom would have, too.

_What other secrets did you have when you died, Mom?_

"…I know it's a lot to take in," Fury said bracingly, even comfortingly. "But your mother was one of the best agents the SSR ever had, and I'm hoping, for her sake if not Howard's, you'll be a full-time SHIELD agent, too. If you say no, that's fine. You don't even have to give me an answer now."

"Then why ask _now_," I replied, closing the folder and pulling it into my lap. I was going to read those files, even if Fury tried to take them from me. "Why ask me _now_? You could have said it when you broke into our house after the press conference. After Tony's birthday party when you brought Dad's stuff. Why _now_?"

"…because if I don't ask _now_, there might not be time later. Somethin' is happening out there, Andy, and we have to be ready for it. So far, you're our best chance of actually helping to pull something off."

"To do what, exactly?"

Fury chuckled at me like I was just kidding around, but I wasn't.

"I think you know the answer, Miss Stark," he said once he figured out I was serious. "Savin' the world is what we do. So do you."

"So you want me to join SHIELD to do exactly what I already do as Trinity."

"Maybe more," Fury conceded, "but yes. But I can promise you, if you say yes, then you're gonna be pushin' yourself harder and farther than ever before. You and your brother may not be the only heroes out there, but there's just as many bad guys to take down that're ten times worse that the guys you've dealt with so far."

I thought on it. It didn't take me long to figure out what I had to do. If there was something bigger, stronger, and nastier than just greedy bastards like Hammer and Stane, or Ten Rings, or even people like Vanya who blamed my family for the wrongs done to them, then undoubtedly working solo, or even with Tony, wasn't going to get the job done. We'd need backup, and a lot of it, with information and equipment just as good, if not better, than what we already had. SHIELD had that, and were at least willing to share even if Tony wasn't interested in reciprocating.

Besides. Dad had helped SHIELD. Mom had worked for the group that would become SHIELD. If Tony was going to go more Dad's route, working side projects, then it only made sense that the other Stark in the family had to get down into the trenches, the mud and the blood and the dirty work no one else wanted to do. I was best suited for that kind of work.

"…so long as I don't have to spray-paint a new logo on my armor, show me where to sign up."

I'm not going to be boring; working with SHIELD was, in short, a good choice in the end. I was able to work flexible hours, I was paid promptly and in full worth of my work, and the travel benefits were nice, too. Also, the access to information I would never have dreamed of getting my hands on with it just being me and Mina was a plus. It led me into finding out more about the Avengers Initiative, what Fury hoped to do with it, along with other projects SHIELD had up their collective sleeve. Of course there were things I didn't have access to, but, really, it was only a matter of time before either I earned that access or Mina broke into it anyway.

As to be expected with real life, things plowed on. The Expo didn't have any other crazy excitement, Tony was actually working hard on fostering a real relationship with Pepper. I'd made myself go out a couple more times with Rhodey, just to make sure we were still good on the friend-scale, and when we "broke up" Tony was the only one who really made a fuss out of it. Both Pepper and I waved it off as Tony wanting a reason to pester Rhodey more than he already did, which was likely the whole reason of his support.

As the rest of the year passed, though, I was dreading more and more the night of the closing ceremony for Stark Expo 2010. I had fought hard to try and get out of it, even hacking the schedule and trying to erase my name from the listing, but that had failed dismally. Whether or not I liked it, I was going to have to give a speech. Compared to Tony, I am no good at talking to any large group of people, or at least not without a strange digression or a bit of sarcasm that flew over everyone's heads. So when that night finally came around, standing backstage under the Tent of Tomorrow, I was a massive nervous wreck. Sure, I'd managed to get out of wearing a dress, instead in a smart pantsuit Pepper had gotten for me, but I still couldn't help but shuffle my notes uncomfortably.

"Sure you don't want somethin'?" Tony asked, also in a suit but much more relaxed than me. "I'm serious, a scotch is gonna help the nerves, I do it all the time."

"You are _not_ helping," I grumbled at him, though Pepper did offer me some water that I managed to chug at without making a giant mess of myself. She snatched away the bottle, though, once Tony walked out, smiling brightly – and for real, not faked – and proceeded to banter with the audience, summing up the Expo and all the stuff that had happened. He took a bit of a serious note, though, because he brought up nearly losing me and, amazingly enough, how it got his head screwed on straight.

Note to self: freak Tony out with near-death-sorta very often. It'll keep him normal.

"Ready?" Pepper whispered as Tony turned friendly again. I knew what was coming next, and I shook my head emphatically.

"Nuh uh," I admitted, even as Tony introduced me, not as his sister Andrea, but just plain Andy. Pepper gave me a small push out onto the stage, and I had to screw on a smile. The roar of applause and cheers I got nearly made me turn tail and bolt, but of course Tony had a plan for that, too. He left the podium to meet me halfway, hugging me tightly.

"You owe me," I grumbled in his ear.

"Just smile and be you. They love us, remember, And-ster."

"Shut up," I told him before he let go, giving me a smile before he motioned me on up. I had to make myself take each step to the podium, and waiting for the applause to die down nearly sent me running anyway. But it did, and now I had to talk.

"…not quite sure how I can follow that up, but I'll try," I started, earning some chuckles from my audience. In my head I was screaming and running away in terror. But as Tony said, they loved him, they loved me, and I had to play nice. Okay. Nice it is.

"…I was three years old, when Dad opened the 1974 Stark Expo. I remember just being excited, energized, at the thought of all these really smart, creative people coming together, to make something better. I might've just been a kid, but I loved being a part of it. And, well, here I am again, now closing what Tony began."

This earned a polite smattering of applause. Okay. Not bad. I took a deep breath; not it was time to get a little more personal. And not freak myself out over it.

"Tony mentioned I was…comatose earlier this year…some…issues came up, he went a little crazy…yes, Tony, I still love you…"

Snickers and laughs. Humor. Just had to keep breathing.

"…but even with all of that, I was thinking. I kept thinking about what Tony said, how all of this is about what we leave behind for those who come after us, a better future that, in some way, we helped make happen."

I allowed myself a smirk here.

"Well, no offense to my big brother, but I respectfully disagree. It's not about the future. It's not what we leave for others to build from. It's about us. It's about what we are left with on our plates to handle from those who came before us."

I looked around a little, and the silence meant either I had their complete attention or they were already asleep. I hoped and prayed for the sleep factor, and imagined it. Still, I had to plow on.

"This might seem like a surprise, but…I never got along with my dad. Not really. And ever since he died, I thought he didn't have anything for me. Just heaped up for Tony, and left me out to dry. Obviously, not the case. It took me a bit to figure that out. But I really realized it when…I met this guy. He didn't like my dad, either. Hated him, hated Tony…but, somehow, I looked at what he was left with, on his end, and what I had on my end, and…it hit me.

"It's not about _our_ legacy," I pressed on, hoping that that one little tribute to Vanya would pay back the anger and hate that had filled his life. "It's not what we leave for others. It's what we do with what we have. Why else would we have a twenty-ten Expo if we hadn't had one in seventy-three? It's so we can show that…we've learned. We're better. And maybe one day, maybe in twenty-fifty, it'll happen again. So with that…I formally close the Stark Exposition of Tomorrow, but in the hope that what we've accomplished…we'll have something better next time."

I don't know how. I don't know why. But that last paragraph got the whole bunch of them on their feet, cheering and clapping and hollering. Even Tony, when he came out to finish out the rest of the ceremony with me, looked oddly moved and impressed by my little speech. But once I was thinking about it, I realized how right I was. Mom and Dad had left me with a history and everything I needed to be who I was, and I made myself the better for it.

And, maybe, somehow, that would make the difference, when all was said and done.


End file.
